The Trouble With Paradise
by ViolateThisNobleWar
Summary: Sequel to my story Here We Go Again. This story was deleted about a year ago and I am now reposting it. Almost a year after the Wet Side Story gang left the modern day, everything has fallen into place for everyone. But that's the trouble with paradise. Soon enough, everything is bound to come crashing down. Read Here We Go Again first.
1. Soft Drinks and Secret Affairs

**I'm baaaack! VERY IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE READ:**

 **So this story for whatever reason, almost a year ago this story was deleted by the admins of this website. I don't know what rule it broke, but that was that. I was pretty annoyed at it being deleted and, having gone through the frustration of having a story deleted multiple times before I didn't try to repost it. A few months later I thought reposting it might be worth a shot, but I was fairly certain the majority of you had lost interest by that point.**

 **I have only recently logged back on to Fanfiction to find a whole lot of recent reviews asking for the name of my sequel, so I thought maybe people are still interested. After re-reading Here We Go Again and what I had written of this story, I suddenly had an urge to continue it. So I figured I would see how reposting it goes. If you guys have lost interest, I 100% understand. Just curious to see if anyone still wants to see the sequel.**

 **So, if you want me to keep posting the sequel, please review and let me know!**

 **Thanks lovelies, and may I just say, I have missed you all. Xx**

Chapter One:

Brady's P.O.V

"We are officially done with high school!" I cried, earning an enthusiastic applause from everyone.

It was Friday night and eleven months had passed since the Wet Side Story gang had left California. That day had been mine and Mack's final day of year twelve, and the graduation celebration had started an hour ago but Mack and I had taken advantage of the large crowd of parents moving to exit the auditorium after the diplomas had been handed out and snuck out to the beach, changed out of our fancy formal wear and into our swimwear in the bushes and headed out to Wet Side Story.

Drinking soft drinks and listening to music from 1962 blare from jukebox in the corner of Big Mamas was much more appealing than some uptight fancy graduation celebration.

Lela and Tanner were the last to arrive, understandably having to find a babysitter first. A sense of dread hit me as I made eye contact with Lela. I knew I had to talk to her, but I couldn't bring myself to say what needed to be said.

The outfit she'd picked certainly wasn't making things any easier. Part of me wanted to believe it was a coincidence, but a much bigger part of me knew it wasn't.

A much bigger part of me knew she'd intentionally chosen her Minnie Mouse styled dress, the flowing red dress with white polka dots that she'd been wearing the night we'd first met, the night she'd fallen from the stage and into my arms.

She and Tanner waltzed across the floor hand in hand to the booth where the nine of us were squeezed in. Brady and Giggles were side by side on one side of the booth and SeaCat and Chee Chee were seated on the other side. Mack, SeaCat and I were sitting on top of the table and Lugnut and Struts (who had recently started seeing each other) were perched on the ledge between SeaCat and Chee Chee's seat and the wall. Struts blew the pair a kiss squished up closer to Lugnut and enthusiastically patted the spot beside her. Lela jumped up onto the ledge while Tanner hoped up onto the table with us.

"Congrats guys." Tanner praised. Mack and I shared a smirk. Recently, we'd started introducing our friends from the sixties to modern day slang like 'congrats' and 'whateves' and 'yolo' and so on, and the surfers especially had taken a liking to it.

"Next round of soft drinks on me." Lela announced, jumping back up. Seeing my chance, I quickly followed with "I'll go with you."

Lela smiled and I forced myself to return it, even though my heart was racing and my stomach was lurching.

We walked in silence towards the bar and Lela ordered the eleven soft drinks. While the bartender disappeared to get the drinks I forced words out of my dry mouth.

"Lela we need to talk."

Lela hesitated.

"About?"

I glared at her.

"You know what about."

The bartender returned and passed Lela the tray of drinks, which she accepted with a thankyou and a fake smile.

"Like, now." I enforced once the bartender had moved off to deal with another customer.

"Brady, this is yours and Mack's graduation party. Can't it wait?"

"No. It can't."

Lela looked up at me with such innocent eyes that I almost felt guilty, but I stood my ground.

"Fine." She sighed. "Think of an excuse and we'll go talk outside."

I thought as the two of us returned to the booth, and by the time we got there I'd come up with something.

"Damn it! I left my watch back in California. I really need it, I don't usually go anywhere without it."

Mack raised an eyebrow.

"No babe I'm pretty sure it's in your back pocket. I remember you put it in the waterproof pocket of your board shorts before we got in the water."

"No…" I shook my head even though I knew she was exactly right. "I don't remember that. I'm going to head back and grab it real quick. Back in a moment it."

I raised my eyebrows at Lela, who saw her cue.

"Oh I'll go with you. I've been cooped up in the house with the twins for weeks on end. Even a small outing like that will do me good."

"Umm ok…." Mack said cautiously.

"Back soon." I announced quickly before she had time to protest any further.

Lela and I navigated around the crowded bar and outside into the open night air.

"I'm guessing we aren't actually going back to California?" Lela sighed once we'd walked a fair distance from Big Mamas along the beach.

"Unless you can see a point to that, no."

We fell quiet again before I finally stopped walking, forcing Lela to stop as well.

"This has to stop." I said firmly, deciding to simply come straight out of it.

"Why?" Lela asked in a small voice.

"It's wrong Lela and you know it."

"No." Lela looked up and met my gaze. "I mean why now? This has been going on pretty much since the twins were born. Like four months. We've both known it was wrong since it started. I mean you're in a relationship with Mack and not only am I married but I'm a mother. Our relationship has been completely inappropriate from the word go. What's changed so suddenly?"

I stared off into the distance, not really wanting Lela to know the truth, but I couldn't think of a convincing enough lie. She was completely right. I couldn't really remember how it had all started now, only that it started the day Mack and I came back to Wet Side Story for the first time in seven months and met the twins for the first time ever. One moment we were clucking over the gorgeous three day old babies, the next Tanner was out showing Mack his old board he'd polished and repainted and fixed up to give as a thankyou gift to her – Lela had insisted she wouldn't have coped anywhere near as well as she had had it not been for Mack's support- and Lela and I were on the couch in a heated make-out session. How we got there I've no idea, only that we never got a chance to talk about since we were only broken apart by the sound of our partners returning, and our attempt at talking on mine and Mack's following visit only ended in another make-out session. Since then on each and every time Mack and I visited Lela and I simply acted –and even felt- as though we were nothing more than friends, but always found at least half an hour alone to act as a little more than friends. We never spoke about it, after all, what would we say? We didn't love each other, we were both heavily in love with other people and were betraying those people in every way, but yet couldn't find a way to stop.

Until now.

"You really want to know the truth?" I sighed.

"I just want to know why you've suddenly decided to cut us off. I know it's long overdue, I just want to know where the burst of random motivation came from."

I hesitated, feeling the reason behind my decision was rather personal but Lela deserved a decent explanation.

"Fine. Mack and I had sex for the first time the other day and it really made me realize that she's who I love. Every second this goes on is one more second I'm second-guessing my love for her and I don't want to do that anymore."

Lela pursed her lips together.

"So where do we go from here?"

Of the millions of kisses Lela and I must have shared over the previous months, I figured one more would make no difference, so I leant forward and gently touched her lips with my own. We held the kiss for about three seconds before I pulled away and tried to ignore how pretty she looked under the moonlight.

"We forget this ever happened."

Lela chewed her lip.

"So we don't tell Tanner and Mack?"

"Absolutely not."

 **Okay people, its over to you. I am basing my decision on whether or not I will continue this sequel based on how many reviews this chapter gets. So if you really do want me to keep reposting, please let me know! Xxx**


	2. Aunt Awful

**Wow, thankyou guys so much for the support! I have made the decision to repost this story. Please note that some things may be slightly altered or changed. The reason is that I am missing chapters of this story. I can't find where I have saved them, and I have checked everywhere. Therefore I will have to rewrite them, so they obviously won't be word for word what they were before.**

 **That's all, thanks for the reviews, you're all incredible.**

Chapter Two

Mack's P.O.V

"Oh sweetheart what do you think of this one? This one's rather nice… very rich and…. Mack? Mack! Are you even listening to me?"

"What?" I snapped out of my daydream and back to the present day. Aunt Antoinette was blinking at me expectantly, holding out the tray of bread strips and dips.

"Huh? Oh… Oh yeah that one's delicious." I lied.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Did you even try it?"

I smirked at my grandfather.

"Nope. Nor do I even know which one you're talking about." I giggled.

"McKenzie this is serious!" She pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips, challenging my gaze.

"How is helping you choose dips for your fancy house party important?"

Aunt Antoinette sighed.

"Had you been listening when I'd explained the purpose for my visit this morning you would have understood. It's not just a house party, but the party where I will introduce you to some of my colleagues who are now professors. You are still interested in getting into a good college, aren't you?"

I'd barely taken my eyes off my phone screen all morning, mindlessly popping dips into my mouth, too distracted to taste anything and robotically telling my Aunt they were great while focusing all of my attention into texting Brady. Apparently, this was annoying Aunt Antoinette.

In one swift move she snatched my phone and slipped it into her back pocket.

"Umm…. Excuse me? I was in the middle of a conversation!"

Not a very important one since the two hour long text conversation I'd been having with my boyfriend basically consisted of him complaining about being stuck babysitting again and me complaining about being stuck trying dips, but she didn't need to know that.

"Where were you last night?" She demanded, ignoring my complaints about having my phone taken away.

"At the graduation thingy." I lied.

"You were not. You were there for the awards ceremony, but you never signed in for the after party."

"And? Is that such a big deal? I'll go to prom. Isn't that more important?"

"No McKenzie it isn't! This was your senior graduation! What could have been more important than attendance?"

After Brady and I had left Wet Side Story when it was around 1am, time instantly resumed and we were thrown back to 8pm, the time we'd left. The after party had only just started and we probably could have gone back but we'd just come from a dimension where it was one 'o' clock in the morning – we were pretty tired. So instead we headed back to our old spot and slept underneath the stars again, just as we had that night Struts had hosted a date for a surfer in my house.

I looked at my grandfather to see if I was actually in trouble for ditching our on graduation, but he had a playful smirk lingering on his face, obviously thinking, as I was, that Aunt Antoinette was overeating.

I shrugged.

"The beach." I said casually. "Brady and I went surfing."

Ok, so that was a lie, but it wasn't really that far from the truth. We actually went back in time fifty-one years to have soft drinks in a bar with characters from a movie….. ok, so maybe it was completely far from the truth, but at least it gave Brady and I an excuse to be on the beach.

Aunt Antoinette exhaled heavily and pinched the skin at the top of her nose.

"Mack, you talked me out of taking you away from California, away from that boyfriend of yours, away from the sun and surf and all the other distractions but I thought in exchange you would work just as hard here as you were going to at the school!"

"Would you relax? It's just a fancy dinner and a few dances. Prom's the important night. Just be glad Brady talked me into going to that."

"Prom is important but not nearly as important as your graduation McKenzie." I could hear my Aunt's voice become flustered with frustration.

"I went to the ceremony and got my diploma, but I'd much rather celebrate leaving high school with my boyfriend on the beach. That's who I am and I'm sorry if you have a problem with that."

Grandpa's smirk broadened into a grin, and I could tell he was quite impressed at my choice of words, especially since his daughter seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Just finish trying the dips and tell me which is your favorite. We'll be setting out bread, crackers and dip as a snack while the main food is being prepared, hence being the first thing the professors will eat at the party, hence being a big part of the first impression we make. So please take this seriously!"

"Yes Aunt Antoinette." I mumbled, hoping that if I just went along with it she'd give me my phone back.

I got my wish. After five minutes of trying dips that were too rich, too sour, too strong, too flavorless, too thick and not a single one that I liked, though I forced myself to make a least one positive comment about each selection, she slid my phone onto the table in front of me. The screen was flashing.

 _Three new messages_

I tapped the envelope icon and my screen opened up to my inbox. The first thing I saw was my most recent message to Brady, then three messages he'd sent me in response.

 _10.07am_

 _Me – Stop complaining about babysitting! You should come over here and deal with my Aunt! I'm getting a lecture about ditching grad last night. And I'm being forced to stomach almost inedible prestigious dips. I'd rather be looking after your adorable siblings!_

 _10.08am_

 _Brady – This is why I luv U. U use big words I don't understand like 'inedible' and 'prestigious'_

 _10.12am_

 _Brady – U still there babe?_

 _10.14am_

 _Brady – Hello?_

I typed my reply.

 _10.16am_

 _Me- Sorry Aunt Antoinette took my phone. I'm now being forced to compliment said prestigious inedible dips. BTW sweetie, inedible = Unable to be eaten. Prestigious = fancy and uptight_

I dipped a strip of bread into one of the only two dips I hadn't tried and was surprised to find it was actually nice.

"Have a favorite yet dear?" Aunt Antoinette asked, perfectly on cue.

"Mmm, that one. Definitely that one." Silently in my head, I added _that's the only dip my stomach hasn't had the urge to push back up._

My phone let out a chime and my Aunt shot me a warning glare, which I ignored and opened the new message anyway.

 _10.17am_

 _Brady – Haha well U certainly sound like UR having the time of UR life. And ohh makes sense now._

I couldn't help but smile.

 _10.18am_

 _Me – Don't worry I'll save you some._

 _10.19am_

 _Brady – Oh how kind of U, but really, it's ok._

 _10.20am_

 _Me – Gee thanks_

 _10.22am_

 _Brady – Jas just go home. Meet at beach in 5?_

Brady was of course referring to his older sister Jasmine, who was often on babysitting duty but was quite irresponsible and if it were up to me I certainly wouldn't be leaving my kids in her care as much as Brady's mum Harper did, but I wasn't a single full time working mum with five children so it wasn't really my call.

 _10.23am_

 _Me – Almost done trying inedible food (see previous message for definition of 'inedible') will try and get away._

 _10.24am_

 _Brady- Awesome. C U there beautiful._

I swallowed hard.

"Umm, Aunt Antoinette are we done here? I have… study group."

Grandpa coughed loudly behind me. I turned to find him raising his eyebrows at me. I turned back to my Aunt but held my phone up behind my back so my grandfather could read Brady's message asking us to meet. Taking the hint, he joined in.

"That's right Antoinette. 10.30am Saturdays Mack's high school hosts a study group. Last one of the year today, and for Mack it will be her last ever. You know Mack, very studious, loves her study group. It would be an awful shame if she missed her last day of it."

I shot Grandpa a grateful smile for his persuasive words that were sure to win my mother's sister over.

"Fine. Go ahead. I'm staying over the weekend by the way McKenzie and I know your grandfather lets you run wild but that won't be the case while I'm around. Home. Straight after study group."

"Yes Aunt." I muttered obediently, swinging my handbag over my shoulder.

I pulled my phone back out and composed another message to Brady as I was walking out the door.

 _10.27am_

 _Me – Damn! Just found out Aunt Awful is staying with us the weekend and taking the reins! She's running the show so I'm going to have to go to major levels of deception if I want to do anything this weekend_

Brady's message was one that made me laugh quite heavily.

 _10.28am_

 _Brady – Mack, I luv U, so much, and I wld neva ask U 2 change, but can U PLZ SPEAK ENGLISH?_

 _10.29am_

 _Me – What like you do when you text? Wld? Neva? I must have missed those words in the dictionary._

 _10.30am_

 _Brady – That doesn't count. U can still understand it it! I have no clue what U R saying! USE SMALLER WORDS!_

 _10.31am_

 _Me – Fine. Aunt Antoinette is staying with us for the weekend. She's decided she's in charge. Meaning I will have to come up with some convincing lies if I want to see you because you aren't exactly her favorite person (no offense), starting now. Just left. She thinks I'm at study group._

 _10.32am_

 _Brady – Damn badass! Does our school even have a study group?_

 _10.33am_

 _Me- Probably not. See you soon. Xoxox_

 _10.34am_

 _Brady – Ok gorgeous girl XXXXX C ya soon_

However, had I known the events that would take place at the beach that day, I would have turned around and ran back home.

I'd take Aunt Antoinette and her annoying rules over what happened next any day. 

**Keep reviewing my lovelies!**


	3. Not-So-Nice Beach Day

**Thanks for the reviews wonderful people! You have no idea how much I appreciate it!**

Chapter Three

Brady's P.O.V

I whistled loudly to attract Mack attention as I noticed her arrive onto the crowed beach. Her brunette locks were in two messy plaits and her eyes were hidden behind her large sunglasses. She was dressed in the red sundress I'd bought her for Christmas and a pair of white and pink striped thongs. Her black bikinis were peeking out the top of her dress. Her whole outfit was a sure sign she'd never had any intention of staying and planning the dinner party of whatever with her Aunt, and the beach had always been her planned destination.

"Hey stranger. Nice dress." I cooed as she approached me.

"Thanks." She clucked, playing along. "My boyfriend bought it for me."

"Well your boyfriend sounds amazing." I smirked.

She returned my smirk.

"Nah, he's kind of a douche."

"Hey!" I cried, playfully slapping her across the arm while she erupted into giggles.

"But I'm going to be nice to him today." She added. "Cause I need to borrow his surfboard. I kind of lied to my Aunt about my whereabouts so I couldn't grab it on the way out."

I made clicking noise with my tongue as Mack slid her glasses off her eyes and on top of her head.

"Is that so?" I folded my arms across my chest as Mack batted her eyelids a few times. "And what happens if he refuses to give it to you?"

Mack shrugged.

"Huh well then I'll just have to steal it."

"Yeah, good luck with that one."

"Thanks! But I don't really think I need it. It might be more appropriate for me to wish my boyfriend good luck on getting it back."

"Wait what?" I spun around to find the surfboard that had previously been lying behind me was now tucked underneath Mack's right foot.

She'd been sliding it closer to her our entire conversation.

"Damn your good!"

We both laughed and, breaking our characters of strangers who didn't know each other, leant forward and shared a hello kiss.

"Ok. What do you want to do first?" I asked, slipping both her hands into mine.

"Can we just chill out on the beach for now?"

"Sure. Oh my mum made cookies. Want one?"

"Yes!" She cried, her enthusiasm actually making me jump a little.

"I've spent the past two hours trying dips that taste like puke, out-of-date milk and a combination between Brussels sprouts and rotten cheese. I need something that actually tastes decent." She justified.

I smiled and laid out my beach towel. We sat side by side and I passed her a small container of chocolate chip biscuits, which she accepted without hesitation.

We chatted for about half an hour until the cookies had been polished off, then decided we'd go swimming and later surfing, when the waves got a little bigger.

Mack took out her water bottle and took a long sip, then offered some to me, which I refused. She tugged her sundress over her head to reveal a tight fitting black bikini and slid her hand into mine. Hand in hand, we took off down the shore and into the ocean.

The water was beautiful, not freezing cold but not hot either, just refreshing. Mack and I swam out away from the rest of the swimmers. We continued to swim out to deeper waters until neither of us could touch the bottom and the crowd was way off in the distance.

The waves were starting to pick up and one was coming approximately every ten seconds. We stayed close and began our random conversation again, ducking underneath the surface as each wave crashed over our heads.

Then something happened.

Unsurprisingly, the topic of our conversation had steered itself back in the direction of Wet Side Story.

"We should go out there today!" Mack insisted. "When the waves become big enough."

I'd practically ignored Lela all night after our break-up –if you could even call it that- and I wasn't sure I was ready to see her again just yet.

"We went yesterday. We normally only go once every two or three weeks."

"Yeah I know that but I _need_ to escape my Aunt. How about – wave. Duck!"

We both did as the wave passed overhead. Once it had gone over I popped my head back up, wiped the water off my face and opened my eyes.

But Mack was still underwater.

The water was too dark and gloomy to see what was happening underneath it.

"Mack? Mack?" I called.

Nothing.

It took me a moment to realize the whooshing type noise wasn't the next wave building up, but the sound of desperate limbs thrashing underwater. Just as the next wave crashed overhead I ducked back down and opened my eyes.

I could hardly see, but I could see just enough to be able to make out a slim, tall silhouette thrashing violently in the water, struggling, to keep her body afloat and looking as though she was trying her hardest to reach the surface, but in spite was slowly sinking.

"Mack!" I cried, though I was underwater so it only came out as inaudible jumble.

I reached out and grabbed onto her wrist in one hand and her ankle in the other and used all my strength to pull her upwards. As we hit the surface I quickly changed my position, so Mack was now laying bridal style in my arms.

"Mack what happened?"

She coughed a couple of times, traces of seawater dribbling from her mouth.

"I…. I really… I…. I don't know. I don't, I don't know what happened….. I just, I just couldn't swim all… all of a sudden." She stuttered. "I… Brady help….. I can't feel my limbs."

"Alright just relax." I persuaded although my own heart was beating in my ears. What did she mean she couldn't feel her limbs?

I wrapped both her arms around my neck and used my right arm to support her waist, and I waved my left arm above my head, desperately seeking the attention of the lifeguards.

Mack's eyes flickered closed, then opened, then closed again.

"Mack?" I gently shook her to keep her from slipping into unconsciousness.

She made a slight grumbling noise in response but didn't open her eyes. The lifeguards had finally caught sight of us and one of them was bouncing across the water on a jet ski towards us.

"Mack? Mack?" I was flailing and struggling to hold both mine and my girlfriend's body weight as it was, but I forced myself to bounce up and down so Mack was still moving and her chance of losing consciousness was reduced.

The lifeguard arrived around twenty seconds later.

"What happened?" He asked, his eyes widening in concern at Mack's limp body.

"I have no idea." I admitted. "One minute we were talking , then next she was drowning. I rescued her and then she started saying she couldn't feel her arms or legs. I don't know if she's awake or not."

The lifeguard helped me transport Mack's weight off of me and onto the jet ski. After quick examination the lifeguard concluded she'd lost consciousness and ushered me onto the jet as well, instructing me to keep Mack's head up and her back straight as we took off.

I had no idea what had caused the sudden shocking turn of events, but I can tell you this.

The cause of it was the last thing I would have expected.

 **Thoughts? xx**


	4. Hospital

**Before this chapter, I just wanted to answer the guest review that asked which chapters I was going to be rewriting. Chapter six, seven, eleven and fifteen I will be rewriting as I have lost those chapters.**

Chapter Four

Mack's P.O.V

I blinked a few times as my eyes struggled to adjust to the bright overhead lights.

I shifted in an uncomfortable plastic covered bed and took in my surroundings. I was in a plain room with off cream walls and no furnishing other than a small bedside table. As I sat up and came a little more to my senses I realized it wasn't a bedside table, but a table nursing hospital equipment, including a plastic bag containing a clear fluid with a tube attached to it, that was running the length of my bed and was inserted underneath a bandaged in the crook of my arm.

"Oh good you're awake." A chirpy voice with a southern accent drawled. I flinched. I hadn't even realized anyone was in the same room as me.

It took me another few minutes to come to terms with why I was in a hospital room, until the events of the beach came flooding back.

"What time is it? How long was I out for?" I gushed.

The women, who was dressed in scrubs and presumably my nurse, made a tsssk noise with her tongue.

"Three hours? We admitted you at eleven 'o' clock this morning, your stomach was pumped by eleven-thirty, what time is it now?" She paused to check her watch. "Oh yes it's just past two. About three hours darlin'."

Something in my facial expression must have represented my shock, because quickly the blonde-haired nurse added "Compared to some cases of this, that isn't that long, really darlin'."

I shook my head.

"No, no it isn't that. Why did you pump my stomach?"

The nurse's eyes misted and she starred at me very sympathetically, like an animal lover starring at a homeless puppy.

"I'm Nurse Narelle." She said quickly, intentionally avoiding my question. "But just Narelle is fine. And you're McKenzie?" She double checked she had my name right on the forms pinned to the bottom of my bed. "Ah yes. Any preferred names sweet pea?"

"Why did you pump my stomach?" I repeated, firmer but much more anxiously.

Narelle sighed.

"I'm sorry sugar." She whispered, sounding truly apologetic. She sat on the edge of my bed and took one of my hands in her own. "But y'all need to know that no matter how bad life gets, there's always a way to fix it, or at least repair some of the damage. We've booked you into see a counselor tomorrow at 2pm. We don't expect you to open up to him right away but if all goes to plan y'all see him every Sunday for the next few months and I promise, he will help."

I gave the Narelle my best 'you've completely lost your mind' look.

"Um… yeah Narelle, I think you might have me confused with another patient. I passed out for some unknown reason in the water at the beach. I don't know what all this counseling is about."

Narelle brought her homeless puppy face back out again.

"Darlin' we always book counseling for patients after a suicide attempt."

My eyes widened.

"Suicide attempt? What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Honey either y'all in denial or y'all lost you're memory. Either way I just want you to know that while what y'all did was dangerous, it's not illegal. You aren't in any trouble."

"I'm not denying anything!" I snapped. "I. Have. No. Idea. What. You're. Saying!"

Narelle let out another loud sigh.

"Sweetie pie you were admitted for drug overdose on about three different types of pain killers. Like I said, taking pain killers certainly ain't illegal, but taking that amount of three different types certainly is deadly. Y'all very lucky to have that boyfriend of yours or you would have drowned. He cares about you very much."

I blinked about seven times, hard, as if trying to wake myself up from a nightmare.

"The last time I even touched a pain killer was two weeks ago when I had a killer headache. And I only took two of the same kind. I really think there's been a mix up."

"There's no mix up honey. Like I said, we pumped your stomach and got as much of it out as possible."

The reality of what was happening began to truly settle over me. I'd passed out due to a drug overdose. I'd been rushed to hospital to have my stomach pumped, and the substances that had come out of it were identified as huge quantities of three different types of pain killers.

This couldn't be happening.

I reached out and grasped Narelle's arm in a panic.

"Please. You have to call the police. I think someone's drugged me. I didn't take those myself I swear you can ask anyone I'm not like that."

Narelle hesitated.

"That's what your grandfather said. The doctors asked me to come in here and try and coax a confession out of you witch clearly isn't happening so maybe it is time to call the police. We just need to 100% rule out any chance of this being an attempt on your part to take your own life. You understand right darlin'?"

"Of course." I nodded, forcing myself to breath.

"Now based on examinations of your reaction your doctor has decided the drugs couldn't have been in your system for more than half an hour. Where were you half an hour before you passed out?"

"On the beach." I said without hesitation.

"With your boyfriend?" She confirmed. I nodded.

"Yes, he's the blonde hair darlin' right?"

I nodded again.

"Yes, he was very eager to see y'all. But we couldn't let him come just yet, immediate family only until the doctor has confirmed visitors. Your Grandpa and Aunt are out in the lobby if you'd like me to send them in."

I found it a little peculiar that Aunt Antoinette was considered immediate family and Brady wasn't - he spent about three or four nights a week at my place, called my grandfather 'Grandpa' and was the love of my life, where as I only saw my Aunt once in a blue moon, but I didn't say anything.

"Sure. Send them in."

"Ok sugar. Do you have contact details of your boyfriend's that we might be able to have? It's important we confirm with him he was on the beach with you half an hour before what happened."

I scribbled down Brady's mobile number, which I knew off by heart, on a notepad Narelle handed me and passed it back. She thanked me and scooted out of the room.

My heart was racing and my head was pounding, and I wanted to see Brady more than anything.

A moment later the door opened and Aunt Antoinette and Grandpa came in.

"Oh Mack." My grandfather immediately dropped to the plastic chair beside my bed and began stroking my hair, which had come out of its plaits. It was only then I realized I was still wearing only the bikinis I'd been wearing when it had happened. "What happened sweetheart?"

"I don't know." I said with another shake of my head. "Nurse Narelle said I overdosed on pain killers. But someone must have spiked something I'd had to eat or drink. I would never do that intentionally."

"I know baby girl. No one here is saying you did."

"Well the possibility has completely erased itself from my mind." Aunt Antoinette pursed her lips. "Did you and that no good boyfriend of yours think this was a good way to try and get high?"

My jaw dropped so far I was surprised it didn't smack into the bed.

"What?!" I cried. "No! Why would you even suggest that?"

"Well I don't know. He just seems like trouble. And I never remember you being a liar McKenzie. Your Grandpa and I were under the impression you were at study group, right Dad?"

Grandpa sighed after I shot him a look.

"Actually Antoinette I knew where she was. Study group might have been a little white lie we made up to get you to let her leave the house. She's young and she's just graduated high school. I think she'd much rather be out having fun then taste testing dips. I know how important you think this party is but it really isn't. Mack already got accepted to a great college months ago, all this party is doing is boosting the professors impression of her, which isn't really necessary considering Mack lights up a room just by walking into it."

Aunt Antoinette put her hands on her hips.

"It isn't about lighting up a room Dad! They don't care how great her personality is, they're interested in how smart she is. And you're encouraging her to lie!"

Grandpa snorted.

"Antoinette she isn't five! She's seventeen and by now she's old enough not to be influenced by what I do. And her boyfriend isn't trouble he's wonderful thankyou."

I blushed, slightly overwhelmed but thrilled that Grandpa was defending not only me but Brady.

My Aunt looked ready to fight and opened her mouth to retaliate but was cut off by the door opening again.

Narelle rushed in, a phone pressed to her chest.

"Brady's on the phone darlin'. He's confirmed what you said and the doctor said so long as you and your family are fine with it he can come see you."

"Absolutely." Grandpa said, which would have been great, had my Aunt not said "Absolutely not." At the same time, snatched the phone off the nurse, hung up on Brady and practically shoved her out of the room.

 **Alright lovelies, what did you think?**


	5. So Much For Breaking Up

**So I decided to update twice in one day because you people are so amazing and you deserve it.**

 **It's almost midnight where I am anyway so it's close enough to tomorrow.**

 **Although I'll post another chapter tomorrow morning if this chapter gets enough reviews. Just because you are all fabulous.**

 **Okay I'll shut up now. Wow, does anyone else realize how often I say that? It's like my signature sign off.**

 **Which is not really a good thing…**

 **Okay I'll shut up now.**

Chapter Five:

Brady's P.O.V

The line severed with a click.

"Hello?" I said three times, though getting no response.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and, sure enough, the screen was flashing with CALL ENDED.

I considered calling back but instead just opted for sending Mack a text. I knew she had her phone on her because I'd insisted the paramedics take it with them so I could still contact her before visits were permitted.

 _2.32pm_

 _Me - Ur nurse just called. Some1 drugged U? Y? What did you eat/drink within half an hour of the attack?_

I didn't expect an answer straight away so I set my phone down on the coffee table in the lounge room and tried to preoccupy myself by watching TV, but if you asked me what I was watching I couldn't even tell you.

All I could think of was Mack.

Ten minutes later my phone buzzed and I practically jumped out of my seat on the couch to pick it up.

 _2.42pm_

 _Mack - Just got your text. Aunt's been interrogating me about whether or not I purposely took them. I don't know, those cookies?_

Purposely took them? I re-read the first part of the message again and again, unable to believe anyone would ever accuse Mack of doing that

 _2.45pm_

 _Me - Well that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I promise the cookies didn't have pain killers baked in them. Sure you didn't eat anything else?_

 _2.46pm_

 _Mack - Nothing other than bread and dip_

I sat for a long time, trying to work out how on Earth the medicine could have gotten in Mack's system, when my phone went off again.

 _2.48pm_

 _Mack - I'm sorry I have to go. Doctors back with more results. They've further looked into what came out of my stomach and have more information. Promise I'll keep you updated. Don't worry about my Aunt (she was the one who hung up on you, not Narelle BTW) and please come visit whenever you want. Love you Xoxoxo_

 _2.49pm_

 _Me - Will give U some time 2 talk 2 ur doctor & will visit in half an hour if that's ok? _

_3.00pm_

 _Mack - That's fine, please do_

 _3.01pm_

 _Me - Ok beautiful take it easy luv U 2 XXXXXX_

I replaced my phone on the coffee table and left the living room. I walked through the kitchen and down the hall to the bright painted purple door and knocked.

"What?" My older sister Jasmine growled from the other side.

"I'm going out so you're on babysitting duty." I yelled back.

"Bull crap I babysat the rug rats while you went frolicking with your girlfriend this morning it's your turn! I'm meeting my friends for lunch in half an hour."

"Well cancel! I'm going to visit Mack!" I lied.

I'd rushed home and called mum at work this morning, straight after the ambulance had driven away. She'd told me to tell Jasmine she had to watch the kids whenever I was allowed to go see Mack and wanted to, so Jasmine had no argument.

"Oh fine!" She groaned. "But there's a party on tonight and I'm going so hurry up and get your make out session with your disabled girlfriend in and be back by seven. Mum doesn't finish till eight tonight so you'll be watching the brats for an hour!"

"Ok whatever!" I called, knowing I would hardly be in trouble if I made Jasmine an hour late for her party because I was visiting my in hospital girlfriend.

Which is what I would be doing, just with a short detour.

I went into the garage and grabbed my surfboard from its signature spot in the corner and laid it on the floor. I went over to the door leading to the storeroom and grabbed my dad's old surfboard, one of the many things he'd left behind and never come back to pick up when he and my mum had divorced, then placed in in the corner where my board had just been standing. Jasmine didn't pay enough attention to my life to know what my surfboard looked like, only that it stood in the corner, and if she came out and found it gone she'd know I lied about where I was going.

The beach was a ten minute walk from my place and, against all attempts, my thoughts were only of Mack.

I jogged down the sandy shore and into the water, my surfboard at my side. I collapsed onto the front of it and paddled out to where the waves are, but instead of making an attempt to stand on my board once a ripping wave approached, I let it crash over my head, thoughts of Wet Side Story dancing in my mind.

Sure enough, as the wave softened and then vanished and the water stilled, the shore in the distance was not a crowed beach complete with a lifeguard tower and emergency medical tent, but mostly empty beach with only a few girls tanning in the sand, a wooden building with a sign that said BIG MAMA'S in the background.

I paddled on top of my board to shore, and as I neared the sand I realized the four girls dressed in bikini's and sunglasses soaking up the sun were not strangers but Lela, Chee Chee, Struts and Giggles.

I pretended not to notice them as I picked up my board and strutted onto the beach, although I was praying with everything I had that they wouldn't notice me.

Please don't see me. Don't see me. Please. Don't see me. Don't see me...

"Brady!" Lela called, alerting the others.

Damn it.

"Hey Lela." I said slowly.

"Oh hi Brady!" Struts waved, jumping up. The other girls mimicked and jumped up as well, and the four of them were racing over.

"What bought you back so quick?" Chee Chee demanded.

"Che, he obviously came back because he just can't stay away from us." Struts said with a toss of her hair. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Where's Mack?" Giggles shoved Struts away.

"In hospital." I told her flatly, the aimed my glare at Struts. "That's why I'm here. Not because I missed you but good guess."

Lela's eyes widened.

"Hospital?" She gasped. "What happened?"

"She was drugged."

"By who?" Struts gushed.

"We don't know yet. Only happened this morning."

"Oh gosh." Giggles hands were over her mouth.

"What's the time?" Chee Chee asked suddenly.

"Uh about midday." Struts told her. I was about to correct her and say it was about quarter past three when I remembered I was in another dimension, hence it being another time.

"Oh crap that's right." Struts added quickly. "Sorry Brady Chee Chee and I have to go, we've got work."

"Work?" I didn't mean to sound as surprised as I did.

"Yeah we need cash." Chee Chee chewed on one of her fake nails. "We're waitresses at Big Mama's. Catch ya. Send my love to Mack and tell her if she took the drugs intentionally I'm proud of her. Kiss kiss." She blew me a kiss, as did Struts, and I bit my lips to keep the sting I felt from Chee Chee's comment about Mack intentionally drugging herself spilling into words.

"Yeah I should get going too." Giggles tossed a strand of sun bleached blonde hair over her shoulder, then looked at Lela. "I'm meeting your brother for lunch." She kissed Lela on the cheek, then me.

 _No!_ I screamed in my mind. _Don't leave me alone with Lela!_

"I'll give you some money to buy Mack flowers." She continued, pulling a few green notes out of her handbag. "I would buy some myself but they would get destroyed in the water." She handed me the money and I hoped she hadn't realized how shaky my hands were as I accepted it. "Tell her my thoughts are with her. Love ya!" She also blew me a kiss and skipped away, leaving me alone with Lela.

"So…." Lela hummed, recognizing the awkwardness of the situation.

"Uh, where's Tanner?" I asked, half trying to make conversation, half reinforcing that we both had other partners.

"At home with the twins. They're asleep so he can't go out." She said quickly, her voice almost sounding as if she was hinting.

We watched Giggles until she was just a speck in the distance, and one she was completely gone, whether either of us meant for it to happen or not, my lips were on hers.

 **Ok review review review! If this chapter gets enough reviews by tomorrow morning (or whenever that is in your time wherever you are in the world…) I'll update first thing so GO GO GO!**


	6. Secret Hideouts

**So this is one of the chapters I lost and had to rewrite. So it may be slightly different to how it was originally but I wrote as much off memory as I could.**

 **That's all. Enjoy!**

Chapter Six

Brady's P.O.V

There was a certain feeling that came with kissing Lela.

It was like an adrenaline rush. It was the only reason I kept going back to her. It had nothing to do with love, or lack of love for Mack, it was just that addictive rush. Later would come the guilt, as it always did, but right now was the pure ecstasy of sneaking around, of indulging in my own dirty little secret. The thrill of doing something so wrong and never getting caught. I could only imagine it was the same for her.

About thirty seconds later I broke the kiss off, and the rationally thinking, responsible part of me thought it was to tell Lela that we needed to stop, that we called it off and for good reason.

Instead, what came out of my mouth was "we shouldn't do this here. Someone might see us."

Lela looked back over her shoulder, than off towards Big Mama's. Satisfied that no one had caught us, she began to walk away from me, but motioned with her hand for me to follow her.

She led me around the back of Big Mama's, too where two doors led into the building. One was labelled "KITCHEN ENTERANCE – STAFF ONLY" and the second was labelled "MAIN OFFICE."

I watched in awe and shock as Lela removed one of her bobby pins from her hair and expertly picked the lock on the door marked "MAIN OFFICE." After a few seconds of fiddling, the door clicked and Lela pushed it open, then ushered me inside.

"Oh don't worry." She waved her hands at my shocked look. "The owner only comes in here before Big Mama's opens and after it closes." She looked around, and then added with a somewhat guilty expression "this is mine and Tanner's secret place."

"Where did you learn to pick locks like that?" I asked, quietly impressed.

"Please Brady." She chuckled, double checking she'd locked the door behind her. "I've grown up in a bikie gang. Don't act surprised that I have a few sketchy skills up my sleeve."

"Fair enough." I agreed, as Lela returned the bobby pin to her hair.

"Where were we?" She whispered, closing the space between us and cupping my face in her hands.

This time, common sense took a little longer to kick in.

Things didn't take long to heat up again. After just a few minutes Lela had taken my shirt off and was running her hands up and down my chest while I had her pinned up against the desk in the office, my hands playing with the straps on her bikini top. I could feel her lipstick smudging all over my face, I could feel the marks her nails were surely leaving on my chest.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, only that it was far too long before I pushed her off.

"Okay stop." I demanded, using the back of my wrist to wipe her lipstick away from my mouth. I reached for my discard shirt on the floor and Lela, getting the message the our make-out session was over, turned away from me and retied her bikini top which had come loose.

"Lela, this is your private place with your husband." I began, once she was facing me again, but avoiding eye contact. "You're supposed to come here with him. Not your secret boyfriend."

"I know." Was all Lela said in response.

There was a short pause before she sighed.

"Why did you come here today?" She asked softly.

"My intention was coming here to let you guys know that Mack's in hospital. I thought you should all know since you guys love her as much as I do. But instead, I somehow ended up here."

Lela opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, then opened it once more.

"So you didn't come here to see me?" She almost sounded disappointed.

"No." I said firmly. "Lela, I meant what I said the other night. That this needs to stop. We don't care about each other, and we're only doing this for the thrill of it. Which is not a good enough reason anymore."

I paused and tried to meet her eyes, but she was still avoiding looking at me.

"Lela…" I continued. "You don't have romantic feelings for me do you?"

Lela shrugged.

"I don't know." She mumbled. "I used too. Like, when I first met you. When you saved my life after I fell off that stage-"

"I didn't save your life." I interrupted. "I said it then and I'll say it now – the stage was like, two feet high."

"Whatever, not the point. The point is, I had romantic feelings for you then, but not anymore. But I still… I enjoy doing this, this secret affair of ours. I like having a secret of my own, that Tanner doesn't know about, and that Butchy would flip tables if he found out about. But it's not because I like you. Okay, well obviously I'm a little bit attracted to you or else I wouldn't be having an affair with you. But I don't love you. I love Tanner. And my daughters. I just-"

"I get it, Lela." I cut her off. "Really, I do. I'm exactly the same."

Lela finally looked up at me, a somewhat hopeful look in her eye.

"So, then… could we just keep this our little secret? Maybe just for a little while longer?"

I hated myself for hesitating before I said no. A part of me wanted so badly to just agree, to pin her back up against that desk and kiss her passionately like I was before.

But a much bigger part of me knew I'd done the right thing the other night.

"No Lela." I said, and her eyes dropped back down. I moved towards her and tucked a stray piece of black hair behind her ear. "Lela, I care about you. Honestly, I do. But not in the same way I care about Mack. Just like you don't care about me the same way you care about Tanner. You and I both know why this has to stop. You're a mother, Lela. And you're married."

Lela nodded, and bit her lip.

"Lela?" I sighed, and once more she looked up at me and met my gaze.

"Yes?" She whispered, so softly it was almost inaudible.

"Go home."

 **Okay opinions lovely people? Ten reviews for an update!**


	7. The Truth Comes Out

**Wow, thankyou guys for all the reviews on my previous chapter! I also had to rewrite this chapter so same thing, may not be identical to how it was originally but I did my best.**

Chapter Seven

Mack's P.O.V

"We can officially confirm that the substances found in Mack's stomach were already in liquid form when they entered her body." My doctor said, more too Grandpa than me.

"Liquid form?" Grandpa repeated, before turning to me. "Mack, what did you have to drink?"

"I don't know." I answered, racking my brain. "I didn't buy a drink from anywhere, or drink from anyone else's. I only had my water bottle with me."

"Where's your water bottle?" Aunt Antoinette demanded.

"I don't know." My tone was automatically defensive as hers was too. "Probably still in the bag I took to the beach. Wherever that-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence because Aunt Antoinette was already rummaging through my bag, which I hadn't previously noticed was in the corner of the room.

She retrieved my half-empty water bottle and stared intensely at it, as though she could tell whether or not it contained the drugs just by looking at it.

"We can take that to the lab for testing if you wish." The doctor offered to my aunt, raising an eyebrow at her fixated stare.

"Wait, can I see it for a second?" Grandpa interjected, extending a hand for the water bottle. Aunt Antoinette reluctantly passed it over.

My grandfather turned the bottle over in his hands, then shot me a puzzled look.

"This isn't your water bottle, Mack." He said, turning it so I could see the lid.

I took the bottle from his hands and studied it myself. It had all the same qualities of my water bottle – it was a plain, plastic bottle with a purple cap – but the cap was smooth. One day, a few weeks back when I'd been sitting in the lounge room watching TV, I'd used a pair of scissors to carve my name into the lid out of boredom. Now, looking at the bottle I was holding, I realised with a sickening feeling it was missing those four letters from the top.

"I must have picked someone else's up." I replied, hoping that this new information wasn't going to lead to another interrogation from my aunt.

"And you can test this for conformation that this is where the painkillers came from?" Grandpa asked the doctor, who simply nodded in response.

Nurse Narelle entered the room at that moment, then realising she was interrupting something, raised her hands apologetically.

"Sorry." She looked at me. "You have a visitor, darlin."

"Brady?" I said hopefully, sitting up a little taller in bed.

"No, a girl. I didn't quite catch her name, but long black hair, olive skin."

I raised an eyebrow at Narelle, then shrugged at my grandpa.

Grandpa handed the water bottle over to the doctors, who promised to be back with results in two days' time, then urged Narelle to send in my visitor.

The room elapsed into silence as everyone except for Grandpa and Aunt Antoinette cleared out. A few seconds passed before a new figure appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in nothing but a purple bikini top, black tights and three inch heels, and her jet black hair was messy and teased, presumably having just been pulled out of its signature high bun.

Chee Chee.

"Hey Mack." She gave a small wave before stepping into the room, then seemed to notice Grandpa and my aunt for the first time.

"Um, this is Kristy." I motioned towards Chee Chee, raising my eyebrows at her outfit. "My friend from school. Kristy, this is my Aunt Antoinette and my grandfather."

"Pleasure to meet you." Grandpa smiled and extended his hand for shaking. Chee Chee accepted it awkwardly.

I bit my lip and tried to make eye contact, wondering why she was here. I assumed Brady had gone out to Wet Side Story and told everyone about what had happened, but Chee Chee wasn't one of those I would have thought would come out to California to see if I was alright.

"Um, would you mind if Kristy and I had a few minutes alone?" I looked at my family members. My aunt predictably rolled her eyes, but my grandpa only smirked.

"Are we cramping your style?" He teased, then stood up. "We should probably go for a walk and find some lunch. We'll be back in half an hour?"

I nodded and Grandpa leaned down and kissed my forehead. Just as he and my aunt were making a move to leave, he stopped, turned around and snapped his fingers.

"Julie Miller!" He cried, gesturing at Chee Chee, who had made herself comfortable on the end of my bed. "I've been trying to work out who you look like since you walked in. Julie Miller! Have you heard of her. She's an actress."

Chee Chee shook her head no. I'd never heard of Julie Miller either, but I had a pretty good feeling I knew who she was, and I did not like where this was going.

"Probably too old for you. She played a character in my favourite movie." Grandpa chuckled, confirming my fears.

"Dad, are we going?" Aunt Antoinette snapped.

Grandpa sighed, and I silently thanked my aunt, for once appreciative she was here.

"We'll be back." Grandpa assured again, before closing the door and leaving Chee Chee alone.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, although I was glad to see her. I couldn't help but smile a little. "And what the heck are you wearing?"

"Don't judge me, this was all I could find to fit in with this time at short notice. My bikini top, and the shoes and tights I wore to work-"

"Work?" I blinked in surprise.

Chee Chee threw her hands up.

"Is it that hard to believe I have a job?" She cried.

"No its just….yeah, yeah it is." I laughed.

Chee Chee didn't fire a comeback, or even laugh, she just shuffled uncomfortably, increasing my suspicion that something was wrong.

"Chee Chee?" I questioned, but she wasn't looking at me. "Is everything okay?"

"I have to tell you something." She whispered. "Something I've been meaning to tell you for a while."

I didn't answer, but instead stared at her expectantly, the worried feeling in the pit of my stomach growing.

"Mack…." She trailed off and took a breath. "I've wanted to tell you this for a long time, and I should have, I just… I didn't want to be the one responsible."

"For what?" I demanded. "Chee Chee, you're scaring me."

There was a prolonged pause before she finally answered me.

"For ending yours and Brady's relationship. Mack, he's cheating on you."

My stomach plummeted.

"Excuse me?" I choked out, listening to the sound of my own hear beat.

Chee Chee took another deep breathe in.

"A few days after you came to see the twins for the first time, Lela pulled me aside and said she had to tell me something. She told me that she and Brady had kissed while you and Tanner were away, and that she felt really bad about it. I told her that sometimes we do things we don't mean to in the spur of the moment, things we don't mean too, because I know that better than anyone. I told her just to talk to Brady about it, clear it up and make sure it didn't mean anything. But the following week she told me that when she'd tried to talk to Brady it had just ended it more kissing, but this time she didn't feel so bad about it. I told her that this couldn't go on, and she got really mad at me. She told me what she did in her personal life was none of my business and I shouldn't tell her what to do. From that point on whenever I'd see them walking off together, I'd have the strongest urge to tell you what was going on, but I really didn't want to get involved. The night of your graduation when they left Big Mama's together I was so close to saying something to you. Later that night, I told Lela if she and Brady didn't end it immediately I was telling you and Tanner. She told me not to worry, and that her and Brady had already called it off. But today, while I was out in the kitchen at Big Mama's, I saw through the back window the two of them sneaking into the main office. I know Lela goes in there with Tanner sometimes, but I guess she takes Brady there too. About half an hour later I saw them leaving. Lela's makeup was smudged and their hair was messy. I guess that was sort of the final straw. You're here in hospital and instead of being here with you Brady's off sticking his tongue down another girl's throat. I knew I couldn't keep in from you any longer. You had a right too know."

I was hearing every word Chee Chee said, but I was still struggling to comprehend what she was telling me. My breathing had become very shallow, and when I felt my face grow hotter and wetter, I realised the tears had come unbidden.

"This is some kind of mistake." I almost pleaded with her. "Please, that's not true."

Chee Chee looked up at me, a heartbroken look in her own eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Mack."

 **Ten reviews for an update? xx**


	8. Little Late For Confessions

**I actually have no introductory author's note this time so…..**

Chapter Eight

Mack's P.O.V

Twenty minutes later I was still in tears.

Chee Chee was still perched on the end of my bed, her arms wrapped tightly around me.

"I can only imagine how much it must hurt chika." She whispered. "But you'll be ok. I know you will."

The door knob twisted and Aunt Antoinette and Grandpa walked in slowly, then, realizing I was crying, rushed over to my bedside.

"Mack what's wrong?" Grandpa pulled and sat beside the bed. I shook my head in response.

Grandpa opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by the door opening.

Narelle walked in wearing the same sympathy ridden face she'd given me when she thought I'd attempted suicide. She'd known I was upset because she'd checked on me early but hadn't pressed for details, figuring it was none of her business.

"Love, your boyfriend's here. Shall I send him in?"

My Aunt scowled, Chee Chee inhaled sharply and my heart froze.

But how could I say no?

"Sure." I tried to sound nonchalant. "Send him in."

Narelle nodded and vanished from the door. I assured Grandpa I was okay and did my best to wipe away my tears. About twenty seconds later Brady walked in, refusing eye contact.

Brady looked confused at the sight of Chee Chee.

"That's our cue Antoinette." Grandpa sighed.

"I'm not leaving Mack alone with him." My Aunt snarled.

Grandpa rolled his eyes.

"She isn't alone she's with Kristy, let's go."

Aunt Antoinette menacingly glared at Brady until her and Grandpa had disappeared from room.

"Did I do something?" Brady half-laughed.

I forced myself to smile.

"I don't know. She's Aunt Antoinette. Don't ask."

Brady smiled back and kissed me gently on the lips, and it took all I had not to push him away.

"So what are you doing here?" Brady sat himself next to Chee Chee on the bed. "And what are you-"

"Do not ask about my outfit it was all I could find to blend in with this time ok?" She snapped. "And if they outlawed visiting my friend while she's in hospital I'm sorry I missed the memo."

Brady gave a half nod.

"Right. Ok. Well if you don't mind I actually really need to talk to Mack alone."

Chee Chee shot me a sideways glance, seeking permission before she left me alone with the boy who would very soon become my ex-boyfriend. I gave a tiny nod and she stood up, hugged my goodbye, kissed me on the cheek, said a very tight and curt goodbye to Brady and left.

The first thing I noticed about Brady once we were alone was how nervous he looked.

"Mack, there's something I wasn't going to tell you." He begun.

I pursed my lips together and hid my hands behind my back so Brady couldn't see how much they were shaking, not that he was looking at me.

His lip began to tremble and there was a long pause.

"Brady." I said before he could finish.

Brady shook his head.

"Just hear me out." He insisted.

"I know what you're going to say."

"No Mack, you don't."

And suddenly, something snapped in me.

Why was a pretending not to know what an asshole he was? Why was I waiting for a confession? What was I waiting for? A logical explanation? What logical reason could ever justify what he did to me?

"Well unless you're going to tell me something other than you've been cheating on me then yes, I do."

Brady's looked up at me, a swirling combination of shock and terror in his eyes.

"How long have you known?" He whispered.

"Actually I found out twenty minutes ago from Chee Chee."

"Look Mack I-"

"No save it Brady." I interrupted him, feeling my eyes mist again. "Why? Why would you do something like this? I trusted you."

"I know and I-"

"I thought I meant something to you!" My voice was steadily rising. "How could you?"

I knew it was hardly important, but there was one question I had to ask.

"You told me you were a virgin before we… you know. Were you lying then to?"

Brady bit his lip.

"Mack of course not. I never went that far with Lela."

I scoffed.

"Oh good so you lie to me, you cheat on me, you betray me, you kiss another girl but you draw the line at sleeping with her! Wow Brady and to think I was just beginning to consider you to be a jerk!"

"Look Mack I know I screwed up but-"

"No enough said. You screwed up Brady. Majorly. And nothing you say will fix this!" I was screaming at him now and the tears were falling freely down my face.

"Why would you do that?" I sobbed. "Every time you told me you loved me over the past four months you were lying to me!"

"No Mack please I wasn't I swear. I do love you. More than anyone and-"

"You're still lying to me!" I screamed. "God damn it Brady do you even have any idea how in love with you I am? What is this some game to you?"

"Of course not I just-"

"No shut up!" I cried.

"McKenzie please just let me finish one sentence!"

With a combination of crying and yelling my voice I was beginning to lose my breath so I stayed quiet this time.

"Mack I know how badly I screwed up okay and I really can't justify what I did. I can't even tell you why I did it. Something about sneaking around without getting caught, it gave me a rush and I know that is no excuse. Then we had sex and I knew you didn't want to do that until marriage but then you told me that you were sure one day we'd be married anyway so it didn't really matter if we did it now and it was such a special moment I knew nothing I was getting from Lela even held a candlestick to my love for you. I have no idea what today was but Lela and I spent a lot more time talking then we did kissing, I swear. I told her I couldn't carry on betraying you and it's never going to happen again."

More tears fell from my eyes as I remembered what I said to Brady about us getting married.

"Yeah, well if only you'd said that four months ago. Brady I can't forgive you. Not for this. So please, just leave. Delete my number, forget my address, and please, just go."

Brady had tears streaming down his own face by now as he stood and gently kissed my forehead.

"I really can't forget this Brady." I reinforced. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah." He whispered. "Me too."

And with that he left the hospital room, leaving me crying harder than I ever had in my life.

 **Okay lovely people, ten reviews and I will update!**


	9. You Again

**OMG THANKYOU FOR 100 REVIEWS YOU GUYS ROCK!**

Chapter Nine

Mack's P.O.V

"Mack." My Grandpa begged for the millionth time that morning. "Please talk to me."

It was 11am the following morning and I'd been discharged from the hospital five hours earlier. All Grandpa and Aunt Antoinette knew was since Chee Chee's visit I'd been upset but I refused to tell then why, mainly because I was struggling to understand it myself.

I'd been silent the whole way home, gone straight to the bathroom and showered, put on my pyjamas as I had zero intention of leaving my room and spent the following five hours crying in between mindlessly watching TV.

Grandpa was now on the end of my bed, stroking my arm. My face was buried in my tear soaked pillow, refusing to look at him.

"Come on, please? I hate seeing you so upset and not having any idea what could have happened."

I rolled over and gazed up at my Grandpa and his pleading and eyes and realised how unfair it was to keep him in the dark.

I took a deep breath in.

"Brady and I broke up." Was all I could bring myself to utter.

Instantly, Grandpa's face completely fell.

"Oh gosh. Oh Mack."

I sat up and fell into my grandfathers hug. His arms were stiff and, having known Brady and I as the perfect couple right from the beginning, he was presumably quite shocked.

Like any couple, over the time Brady and I had been together (almost two years) we'd fought and sometimes I would come home a little quiet and tell Grandpa that we were fighting but never once had I told him we'd broken up, because I never believed that. I'd always believed we would work it out.

But not this time. There wasn't one thing I could think of that would fix this.

"Darling girl what happened?" He whispered.

More tears pricked my eyes as I became to chocked up to speak, but I knew he wasn't leaving without an answer.

After a few deep breaths I calmed myself back down and whispered in such a tiny voice that the words were barely audible "He had another girlfriend for the last four months."

I heard Grandpa gasp sharply.

"No. He wouldn't. Brady would never do that."

I sobbed gently.

"Well I didn't think so either."

I pulled away and wiped my eyes, then looked down at my pajamas, and in half a second made a snap decision.

"I'm going out." I announced, flinging my legs over the mattress and wobbling to my feet.

"What to see Brady?"

"Grandpa please, the effects of the drugs wore off. No, I'm just going out."

"McKehenzie, you know I don't like you going out when I don't know where you going." He said sternly, watching me as I cleaned my red, blotchy, tear stained face with tissues.

"Well that's funny because you never minded where I was when I was with Brady."

Grandpa paused.

"Well I trusted Brady. I felt like you were safe when you were with him."

"Yeah well I trusted Brady to but he's an asshole." I snapped back.

"Mack, language."

I muttered an apology and began covering up the evidence of the hours I'd spent crying with make-up, trying not to think about how Brady would tell me off if he saw me.

"So where are you going?" Grandpa reinforced.

"Out with some friends. Everyone tells me that's the best thing for a broken-heart." Which was as close to the truth as it needed be. "They texted me and asked if I wanted to meet up at the beach but I didn't want to leave me room. But I've had a sudden change of heart." Again, as true as it had to be.

"Ok. Could you be back by 2pm?"

That was three hours, when I knew I only needed ten minutes. It was a five minute walk to the beach, then once I was in Wet Side Story time would freeze, but I just nodded, figuring a few hours relaxing on the beach alone when I came back might do me good.

Grandpa gave me one more hug than left the room to let me get changed. I pulled on a rash top and a pair of board shorts over my bikinis and grabbed a towel and walked through the hall and into the living room. I'd made it to the front door when Aunt Antoinette slid in front of me.

"You're up! You're dressed!" She waved her hands up and down. "You're ready to talk to me about what put you in that funk!"

I sighed.

"Gosh, I love how you just assume that because I got out of bed I'm instantly ready to talk."

Aunt Antoinette narrowed her eyes at my sarcasm, then noticing my towel, asked "going somewhere?"

"Actually yes."

"Where."

"Out."

My Aunt folded her arms stubbornly and I hesitated.

"You were right about Brady ok? He broke my heart and I should have listened to you. Now will you please move?"

Satisfied and with a small, undeniable smirk playing on her lips, she sidestepped, allowing me access to the door.

Just as I was about to leave and Grandpa called goodbye from the recliner, a thought hit me that made me freeze.

I'd been supposed to tell Grandpa about losing my virginity yesterday.

I was fourteen, maybe fifteen, when I went on my first date. It never progressed into anything but, feeling as though I was growing up, Grandpa felt he had to give me what must have been the most awkward talk in the history, that ended with my promise not to keep it a secret when "it" happened, my promise to tell him no later than one week after, which was yesterday. And even though it was just that awkward that I was willing to promise him a Shetland unicorn to get him to stop talking, a promise was still a promise.

But either way, I really didn't want to tell him now that I'd known Brady had been cheating on me, it just felt pathetic. I felt stupid for giving him something so important, like I should have known better, even though I had no way of knowing what he was doing with Lela.

So, I simply said goodbye to Grandpa, deciding maybe he didn't have to know.

I wasted no time getting myself to Wet Side Story once I'd arrived on the beach.

I walked into Big Mama's, hoping to find someone I knew.

And I did. Because the first person I saw was Brady.

 **Eleven reviews for an update!**


	10. One More Chance

**Hey my loves, so I'm in a pretty bad mood today because I was just informed that for the third time a story of mine has been stolen and reposted with the new author taking credit for it. It makes me so mad – do you have no appreciation for how hard people work on their stories? Can you not think of your own ideas? What joy do you even get from people praising you when you didn't even write it yourself? I just… ugh! Anyway, here is the new chapter because you wonderful people always make me feel better.**

Chapter Ten

Brady's P.O.V

"Dude, you cannot just come here, tell us you and Mack had a break up and then not tell us why." Butchy complained.

Lugnut, Butchy and I were slumped in a booth in Big Mama's. I'd been here for half an hour now. I'd come with the intention of talking to one of my friends here about what had happened, but the only people I knew in Big Mama's were Butchy and Lugnut, and I could hardly tell Butchy I'd been having an affair with his "baby sister" so I'd just told them Mack and I were no longer a couple and left at that.

Although the past thirty minutes had proven the bikers weren't accepting that for an answer.

Lugnut groaned and swooshed his drink around in its cup, while Butchy scraped one the fabric of the seat he was sitting on top of. He tossed his head back, then suddenly beamed.

"Well, I guess if you won't tell me then we'll just go ask Mack."

"What?" I gasped, looking up. Sure enough Mack was standing in the doorway, still as statue, white as a ghost, starring back at me.

"Oh god." I muttered underneath my breath. Then before my mind had time to process the situation I was on my feet and rushing over to her.

Seeing my coming, Mack spun on her heels and marched back out the door, her march progressing into a slow paced jog, that progressed into a casual run, and by the time she was half way towards the ocean she was full on sprinting away from me, ignoring each time I called her name, which must have been at least 20 times.

"Mack please wait!" I cried helplessly, doubting I would have any more luck then last time.

The good thing was I could out run Mack by miles. Aside from surfing, she'd never really been the sporty type and was pretty easy to catch up with.

Once I was right on her heels I abruptly stopped and grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her moving forward to. We were standing right on the edge of the water, the cool salty liquid dancing around our toes.

Standing there with Mack, with the wind originating from the ocean blowing her brunette wavy hair all over her face, her stunning hazel eyes illuminating her slight made up face in the sunlight, the way her wet swim shirt and pants clung to her skin, highlighting every curve of her perfect body, her pink lips looking sleek and kissable, I'd never felt more in love in my whole life.

"What?" She yelled over the roar of the waves. "What do you want?"

"Please just let me talk to you." I begged.

"You aren't going to change my mind. We're through."

"I don't want to change your mind. I just want to talk to you. Please."

Mack hesitated for a few long, awkward moments, but before she gave me her answer, Giggles appeared.

"Oh Mack!" She called, waving her hands above her head and rushing over to us. "Are you okay?"

Mack sighed and dropped her eyes, then looked up at Giggles, who embraced her in a tight hug.

"Fine thankyou." She turned her attention to me a narrowed her eyes. "At least, I was."

"Mack please. Three minutes."

Giggles looked at me, then at Mack, then at me again, her blonde hair bouncing as she tossed her head.

"Did I miss something?" She asked confused.

Mack nodded.

"You did actually. Brady and I aren't together anymore."

Giggles eyes and mouth formed an 'o' shape.

"What? No! I… what? You guys aren't boyfriend and girlfriend anymore?"

"No." I said, my voice full of resentment. "We aren't. But I do need to talk to Mack either way."

"We don't have anything to talk about." Mack hissed.

"Yes, we do."

"We aren't together anymore, just leave me alone."

"Just because we aren't a couple, doesn't mean I have completely fallen off the face of the Earth. In two weeks it will be exactly two years since we met. We have history so yes we have some stuff to talk about."

Giggles, who had been silently watching the scene unfold, bouncing her head between us as we spoke like she was watching a ping pong game, exhaled heavily.

"Ok… well, this is becoming increasingly awkward so I'm going to going and find Lela. We were supposed to meet up here." She looked around for her friend as Mack and I both shuddered at the mention of Lela's name.

Giggles put a hand on each of our shoulders.

"I don't think you to have broken up, perhaps you've just hit a bump. I've known you guys for almost a year now and I know how much you guys love each other, how perfect you are. You'll work this out, I know it."

And with that she skipped away, completely oblivious.

I half-smiled.

"Giggles has a point."

Just as I thought she might, Mack scowled.

"No, she doesn't! Look you have three minutes so start talking."

I inhaled deeply.

"I know that I'll never be able to kiss you, or cuddle you or hold your hand again, but I don't want to lose you. Can we please just make the peace and be friends? What's that going to take?"

Mack quickly looked down but not before I could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"A time machine." She hushed. "Brady, we can't be friends because when I look at Chee Chee or Struts or Giggles I feel love towards them, but when I look at you it's totally different. Brady, I don't love you, I'm _in_ love with you. There's a huge difference."

I couldn't help but mentally take note that she left Lela out of her list of female friends.

"I love you as so much more than a friend." She continued. "And I always will. But right now I also hate you more than I can put into words. I can't just magically smash those to emotions together to create a friendship. We had a friendship. You were my best friend and my lover and one of the only two people I was certain I loved and I don't know what to do anymore Brady."

She looked up and me and covered her leaking eyes with her hands.

"I just wish I knew why you did it."

I bit my lip and took a risk I'd been dying to take since we'd started talking.

"I do too." I admitted. "Look Mack, all I want is one chance to make things right. I'm not asking for you to forgive me right now, or ever for that matter, but I just want to be able to show you how sorry I am and how much I love you. I'm not asking for you to trust me, just don't ignore me and I promise you I'll be the best boyfriend in the world, even if we aren't a couple. I won't stop loving you for a day and I won't go out with any other girls, even if you move on. Just give me this one last chance."

Mack looked deeply into my eyes.

"Fine." She wobbled softly. "One chance. We aren't a couple; we might very well never be again. But I just want to see how you think you can fix this."

"Thankyou." I whispered, purely grateful. "I love you. I'm never going to let another day go by without making sure you know that."

Mack's bottom lip trembled.

"Well I feel the same way. I'm just not ready to say it out loud yet."

 **Ok guys nine reviews and I'll update**


	11. Meet Me At Midnight

**Okay I am sooo sorry for the late update but I have a reason why it's late and it's actually a pretty funny story. So mid-year school break ends tomorrow, which means tomorrow the second half of year eleven for me starts. I thought this was one of the chapters I had to rewrite and I've been so stressed out preparing to go back to school that I just hadn't had time. I've been stressing out about not updating as well, and last night I made myself write most of the chapter so it could just be out of the way, but I fell asleep halfway in. This morning I finished it off and was so proud of myself for getting it done….**  
 **….only to realize this wasn't one of the chapters I'd lost and found the old chapter.**  
 **Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me.**  
 ***deep yoga breathes***  
 **So yeah, I'm an idiot, that's why this chapter is late basically. Enjoy anyway!**

Chapter Eleven

Mack's P.O.V "McKenzie!" Aunt Antoinette screamed from the kitchen.

I sighed and dragged myself off my bed and to my closed door, tightly clutching my letter to my chest.

I'd gotten home around 1pm after leaving Wet Side Story and relaxing on the beach for a few hours. Grandpa and Aunt Antoinette hadn't been home, having left a note taped to the front door that they were out shopping for a few "essential" items for her dinner party with all the professors, and that I was not to leave the house again once I'd come home until they had returned, which made me certain my Aunt had been the one to write the note.

Thank god she was leaving tomorrow.

However, that wasn't the only thing I'd found left on my doorstep. There were also twenty-four roses, an assortment of white, pink and red that were tied together with a light blue ribbon, which was both mine and Brady's favorite colour. Next to the flowers was a light blue envelope with my name printed in black bold letters. It wasn't another long winded plea for forgiveness from my ex-boyfriend as I was expecting, but just six short words.

OUR OLD SPOT AT MIDNIGHT –Brady

I missed Brady a whole lot more than I cared to admit, and so in an eighth of a second I knew I was going. As the note brushed my nose while I bent down to pick up the flowers, I realized it smelt strongly of the cologne I'd bought Brady last Christmas, the one I'd gotten a whiff of every time he hugged me, the one I couldn't get off my after we'd slept together, the one that earned questions from Grandpa about why I came home from Brady's place reeking of male cologne.

So I'd spent the next three hours in my room, flicking through magazines or TV channels, my mind on Brady and Brady only, and the note was pressed to my face for the full three hours. The smell reminded me of every good memory we'd ever had, allowed me to hold on to that tiny piece of hope that we would be ok in the end. Possibly obsessive, but it was the only thing that had made me a little less depressed then I had been.

"Would you come and help me prepare the food for the dinner party?" I froze.

"Wait, that's tonight?" I called back.

I heard a loud sigh and then the race of footsteps down the hall, followed by an affirmative knock on my door. Without waiting for my permission, Aunt Antoinette flung the door open and paced inside. She looked the nicest I'd seen her since she'd arrived, not dressed in black pantsuits, knee length pencil skirts or tight fitting blouses. Her white-blonde hair wasn't bundled in a uptight bun but loosely strung around her shoulder and strapless red dress that stopped just below her knees, her height elevated by a pair of black high heels. She wore bright red lipstick, layers of foundation and grey eye shadow covering eyes that were wide in shock.

"McKenzie you aren't even dressed!" She cried, looking me up and down.

All I had on was a pair of black bikinis and a thin black jacket that I'd had since I was a little girl that belonged to my mum. I wore it whenever I was upset and somehow it just made me feel like she was right there, comforting me. When I was younger it could have been a full on blanket for me, as it was big on me ever now – the sleeves were rolled up several times and the length fell all the way to my knees.

"Yeah. Because it's only 4pm." "You know I live half an hour away and the dinner party starts a five-thirty so we'll have to be there by five which means we have to leave in thirty minutes! I hope you have a solution for how you're going to get dressed that quickly."

"Simple." I said with an eye roll. "I'm not going."

"Excuse me?" She hissed. "I'm. Not. Going."

I could see a tight flicker of emotions pass over my Aunt's face as I collapsed back onto the bed, my arms protectively folded over the piece of paper.

"Dad!" Aunt Antoinette screamed. "Dad! Dad!"

There were another set of footsteps before Grandpa showed up in my doorway.

"Right. Whose being murdered?" "Would you please explain to your granddaughter the importance of tonight and that attendance is not optional?"

Grandpa sighed and shot me a tight look, which I ignored.

"Mack, what's going on?"

"I'm not going." I repeated. "Why not?"

"I have plans."

"Plans?" Aunt Antoinette shrieked. "McKenzie we've been planning this for weeks! How long have you had these plans?"

"Since 1pm this afternoon. I forgot it was on. Sorry."

"Sorry? Too bloody right you are sorry! So you'll now go and cancel your plans that surely aren't more important than this dinner."

"I really can't see how. This dinner is only to meet professors of the college I already got in to. I'm sorry but I can't bail out on my plans."

Aunt Antoinette looked like she wanted to strangle me.

"You can't bail out on this!" She screamed.

"Antoinette, you just go finish up with the food. I'll have Mack ready by four-thirty, I promise." Grandpa whispered, taking her shoulders and guiding her out of my bedroom.

Before she had time to argue he'd forced her into the hall and closed the door.

I rolled over so I wouldn't have to meet his gaze as he sat down beside me.

"Who are the flowers from?" Grandpa pointed towards the bunch of roses on my windowsill. I didn't answer him.

"Mack." Grandpa said sternly. "You can't skip out on this one."

"You can't make me go." I argued back.

"What's on that is more important?"

"Stuff." I replied bluntly. "I have plans for midnight."

"Midnight?" Grandpa relayed his surprise. "Mack you aren't the kind of girl to go out partying."

"And why the heck not?" I bit, even though what I was doing was far from partying I was in a mood to fight.

"Mack, is this some way you're trying to get over Brady?" He lowered his voice.

"No." I said quickly and defensively. "This is me being a seventeen year old girl."

"Okay ok. Look what if I take you home around 10pm? Plenty of time to get ready and go out at midnight, but if this is going to be a regular thing I'm going to have to start issuing a curfew."

I rolled over and smiled up and my dear old grandfather, the man who had raised me, who had always been there for me, whom I was so lucky to have. Legally Aunt Antoinette got custody of me when mum passed as Grandpa was considered too old to be a full term carer, but Aunt Antoinette was happy to continue to be the legal carer but let me live with Grandpa as she had her own career to focus on. I couldn't imagine how different I would have been had Aunt Antoinette raised me.

"Thankyou." I sat up, wrapping my arms around him and instantly feeling guilty for being horrible.

"You're welcome. I may have to fight Antoinette a little but I'll get you home in time. Trust me, your mother was the rebel, the one who went out until all hours of the night every weekend, who went through boyfriends like they were candies, who failed almost every subject, and she was still the good one! I never had to fight with your mother like I had to fight with her twin, just lecture her, whereas Antoinette often fought with me about your mother! About how I wasn't strict enough with her or I was letting her throw away her life or I should let her enforce the rules occasionally and see how much better things would be."

"Grandpa is this coming to a point?" I laughed.

"Yes, the point being that I'm very experienced when it comes to fighting your Aunt."

I beamed with a tiny giggle. "My friend's a teen mum. She has twin girls." I said, feeling as though it naturally came up since we were talking about Grandpa raising Aunt Antoinette and mum, who were twins, but then instantly regretting referring to Lela as a friend.

"Does she really?" Grandpa seemed quite surprised. "Well I can only wish her the best and hope she gets slightly easier to handle twins then I did."

"I don't." I said sourly. "We aren't really friends anymore. I forgot about that."

"What happened?" I looked down.

"She was the one Brady cheated on me with."

Okay lovelies please review and I apologize again for my stupidity!


	12. Brady To The Rescue

**Thanks for the kind words amazing people!**

Chapter Twelve

Brady's P.O.V

I'd been unable to relax all night.

Since I'd dropped the flowers off at Mack's place I'd been completely distracted and unfocused. When I'd ordered pizza for my younger siblings because mum and Jasmine were out I couldn't bring myself to focus on the menu or the pizza guy and kept ordering the wrong thing or asking him to repeat himself, and when he'd delivered the food I'd given him the wrong money three times. I'd eaten dinner without tasting it, I'd left the TV on an adult horror movie and scared the living daylights out of the kids when they'd walked into the lounge room and even showed them to the wrong bedrooms when it was time to put them to bed.

The only thing I could think of was that tonight had to go according to plan. Nothing could go wrong.

Mum was out on an overnight business trip so I was depending on Jasmine being home by 11pm like she'd promised, but I now realized what a stupid idea that was. What if she was late? I couldn't just go out and leave the kids alone. If I didn't show up tonight every chance of Mack forgiving me would be eliminated. She'd blocked me so I couldn't even send her a message or call her, so I really wouldn't be able to explain why I'd dropped roses at her door with a proposal to meet and then bailed.

But what if she was the one who didn't turn up? What if she'd just laughed when she'd seen the flowers? What if she'd just tossed them away and torn the note to shreds without reading a single letter?

By 9pm my nerves were running higher than ever when my phone went off.

It isn't hard to guess who I was desperately hoping it would be.

But much to my disappointment, it wasn't Mack.

ONE NEW MESSAGE: BIKERS

A few months back Mack and I had both fished out our old mobile phones and went on what we figured would be mission impossible; teaching the Wet Side Story gang how to text. The phones were basic and simple to us, but widely complex to sixties teens, but once they'd worked it out we'd let them keep them so we could contact them. The bikers shared one and the surfers shared one, which was exactly what their names in our contacts were.

"Don't be Lela. Don't be Lela." I uttered.

To my great relief but also slight resentment, it was Chee Chee.

 _9.01pm_

 _Bikers – Where R U? –Chee Chee XX_

I sighed, still relieved it wasn't Lela but annoyed because Chee Chee was the one who told Mack about Lela, so she probably hated me now, meaning this would be a fun conversation.

I typed back my one word reply.

 _9.02pm_

 _Me – Why?_

 _9.03pm_

 _Bikers – Bcoz U need 2 be on the beach NOW! Come, it's important. We're all her – Chee Chee XX_

I re-read the text a few times, trying to decide how to reply.

 _9.04pm_

 _Me – All of U? Here? In California? I'm babysitting, what's so important?_

 _9.05pm_

 _Bikers –Well not all of us. Lela, Tanner, Butchy, Giggles and me. Mack came to 1962 drunk so we took her home but she isn't cooperating any further than that. Don't know how to deal with her. Help! – Chee Chee XX_

I gasped loudly and slapped my palm to my dropped jaw. Mack? Drunk? No. That doesn't happen. Ever. She can't stand the taste, the smell or even the feeling of alcohol. Those two words just don't go in the same sentence.

I waited patiently for another message to enter my inbox from Chee Chee, explain she'd made a typo and autocorrect had annoyingly changed her message, what she'd meant to say was the Mack was upset, or that someone else was drunk.

But when a new message came through, it certainly wasn't Chee Chee explaining a typo.

 _9.09pm_

 _Bikers – Umm, hello? R U coming? – Chee Chee XX_

So her text was correct.

I knew I didn't have a choice. Mack had never been drunk before so I had no way of knowing if she was the kind to do something stupid or not, and I defiantly didn't want to find out.

 _9.10pm_

 _Me – Will be there soon_

 _9.11pm_

 _Bikers – Thank U. C ya then - Chee Chee XX_

I opened call on my screen and dialed the number I knew just as well as I knew Mack's.

"Brady?" Mack's grandpa sounded overly surprised, then slightly annoyed. "Why are you calling?"

"Mack's in trouble." I gushed quickly. "Where are you?"

There was a pause.

"At Antoinette's house." He said slowly. "Mack was her too. She went missing about half an hour ago but she said something about having plans for midnight this earlier afternoon."

My heart sped up. So Mack had planned to come and see me.

"Actually." He continued. "I don't know how long she's been missing. She hasn't been participating in the party the way her Aunt wanted her too, but hiding and shying away and sneaking off. I haven't seen her for at least an hour but Antoinette and I have only officially confirmed she's not in the house half an hour ago when we searched the whole place."

I took a deep breath.

"Look sir, I know I don't deserve your trust, but whatever happened, and whatever does happen, I love Mack. I know where she is and she's in trouble and she needs me. I just wanted to call and tell you not to worry. I'm onto it."

And without waiting for a response, I severed the line and called the bikers number.

"Brady!" Chee Chee picked up after only about half a ring.

"Chee Chee, send someone to my place to watch my little siblings. I can't leave them unattended."

I heard a shuffling noised like Chee Chee covering the mouth piece with her hand and then some whispering.

"Giggles in on her way." She informed me after about a minute.

"Good. I'll leave her as soon as she arrives."

 **Okay people ten reviews and I update, as always**


	13. Bad Influences

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Chapter Thirteen

Mack's P.O.V

I know the memory of my first ever time drunk is going to haunt me forever, and I can't even remember the worst of it.

What I do remember is being at Aunt Antoinette's house, sipping cranberry juice, stomaching her awful dips and making small talk with some uptight professors. They were the kind that dressed as though they were attending a meet and greet with the Queen of England, and made me feel shabby even though My Aunt had done my hair before they'd arrived in a perfect bun with French braids on either side of my head and forced me into the cream heels Brady had given me years ago (the only heels I owned) and a one shoulder navy blue dress of hers.

The most annoying thing was Aunt Antoinette introduced me to everyone as McKenzie and scolded Grandpa when he addressed me as Mack, making the whole thing even more formal.

That was until a blonde girl about my age with hot pink highlights in her hair waltzed in dressed in nothing but purple mini shorts, a bikini tops and thongs, loudly popping bubblegum the same way Struts did.

The Dean/Professor/whoever I was pretending to listen to turned and glared at the teenager, who was sliding dark shades over her eyes, whilst everyone else was exchanging shocked looks.

"Harmony Grace Lightweight." He said sternly. "I told you we were going to someone else's house for dinner and warned you to dress appropriately."

Harmony snorted.

"Damn you all look so fancy. Every time I've ever been invited anywhere for dinner it's always been pizza on a dirty couch and a bottle of beer followed by a sexual drinking game and half naked swim in the pool. And for those dinners, if anything, I'm overdressed, but I like to look my best in case there are any guys worth impressing." She slid her glasses down to her nose and peered around the room, then sighed. "Nope. That was a waste of an outfit."

The professor looked as though he wanted to rip Harmony's head off of her shoulders.

"Harmony you are most certainly not overdressed, you are under and inappropriately dressed. You knew perfectly well that this dinner was to do with my work and would be nothing like the stupid little parties you and your mates have. Go home and get changed immediately."

Harmony pretended to think for a moment.

"No thanks. Formal wear ain't really my thing. Oh crackers and dip, yummy!"

She pushed past the professor, who looked mortified, and helped herself to a corn chip, then studied the range of dips.

"Um, do you have anything a little less my dad's taste and a little more my taste?" She asked Aunt Antoinette. "Y'know, like Homus?"

Aunt Antoinette, clearly in shock, was silent.

"Miss Locknight." The professor addressed my Aunt. "I am so so sorry about my daughter."

Aunt Antoinette was clearly unimpressed, but forced a tight smile.

"Oh she's fine. Kids will be kids, some aren't as mature as others. I'll be right back with some Homus dear." Which was practically Aunt Antoinette's nice way of saying my niece is perfect and your daughter is a screw up.

People resumed chatting but sideways glances remained on Harmony, who had been dragged aside by her dad and was listening to what seemed to be a lecture with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

When Aunt Antoinette returned with Harmony's requested dip, she beamed and took the whole tub from her, as well as a handful of corn chips and a bottle of orange juice from the table.

"Well I'll be in the basement if I'm needed." She announced. "Dad told me to go there. He's afraid I'll cramp his style." And with a laugh she disappeared through the door that led to the staircase down to the basement.

There was something about Harmony, something about the way she was bold and confident in her own personality and wasn't trying to be something or someone she wasn't, not for anyone, it made me take and instant liking to her and drew me in. So while Grandpa and my Aunt were in the kitchen, I snuck down to the basement to see her.

She was slumped over the couch with the bottle of orange juice tipped upright in her mouth. The TV was on but she didn't seem to be taking much notice of it.

"Hey." I said. Harmony jumped at my voice, then sat up and placed the orange juice on the floor.

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry." I apologized, sitting down next to her.

"So what are you doing down here, mixing with scum like me? If you're mother's anything like my father, she certainly wouldn't want you socializing with me."

"She's my Aunt." I corrected. "And she's exactly like your dad. She doesn't know I'm down here."

Harmony smirked.

"Whoa badass over here." She said with a giggle, and I smiled.

"I'm not like this." I said quickly, not wanting Harmony to dislike me for being prissy and prestigious. "All this formal wear and polite conversation and what not, this is what my Aunt thinks I should be like."

Harmony cocked her head.

"So if you aren't like this, what are you like?"

"I'm a surfer. I love the beach. I'm pretty chilled out and relaxed except when it comes to school, that stresses me out a little."

Harmony nodded.

"Huh, see you're the kind of girl I'd love to have as a best friend. Someone to get me focused on school but someone who also loves the beach as much as me. I'd live in my bikinis if I could." She smiled again and looked down at her outfit. "Oh wait, I practically do."

I smiled back at her, liking Harmony even more.

"So you got a boyfriend?"

The question stabbed me like a knife.

"I did. But he cheated on me." I blurted before I could think better of it. Talking to Harmony just came naturally, and I felt like I could say anything and I wouldn't be judged, so I continued. "He's been trying to get me back, to prove he loves me, and in a way I know he does but I'm still hurting."

Harmony nodded.

"So you think you and this boyfriend have a chance?"

I paused. Did I think that?

"Yes." I said aloud, before I was even sure if I did. "It's just going to take time to forgive him."

Harmony gave a small sympathetic smile.

"Listen her baby girl. Guys, they're gonna be assholes. Guys screw up, it's just what they do. My boyfriend and I have been together six years now, and for seven months out of those six years he had another girlfriend. I refused to ever forgive him when I found out and I spent the next three months convincing myself I didn't care about him, but I did. And so I gave him another chance. Best thing I've ever done. But I couldn't have done that if I didn't have friends to support me. And vodka, vodka helped a lot."

I couldn't help but laugh at her stab at humor.

"Speaking of the devil." She shook the orange juice with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Want some?"

My own eyes widened.

"Did you put vodka in that?"

Harmony giggled.

"Well duh! Tip #1 girl, always carry a flask."

"Yeah no thanks. I don't drink."

"Well now you're my friend, which by default makes you a drinker. I'm Harmony, by the way, but please don't call me that. I prefer Mony, which is what everyone calls me. Y'know, other than my dad."

I took the orange juice and, much to Mony's delight, forced down a sip.

"I'm McKenzie. Same deal, no one other than my Aunt calls me that. I go by Mack."

"Mack." Mony echoed. "Pretty."

Mony convinced me to take a few more awful sips, but after a little while I began to feel less depressed, less heartbroken. Mony seemed to become funnier and I just seemed to be a little happier.

"It's the vodka." Mony laughed when I asked her about why I was feeling that way. "Girl, in a break up, vodka's your best friend. Few more sips and you won't even remember you're ex-boyfriends name."

Forgetting Brady's name, just for one night, it sounded so tempting. Being completely free and happy with a girl who I had no dramatic history with having all the pain of what Brady did to me lifted off my shoulders, I couldn't resist the thought.

So as the night progressed I got happier and dizzier and the vodka even started tasting better. Occasionally I would slip upstairs so that Aunt Antoinette and Grandpa weren't suspicious, preparing to see them by drowning myself in Mony's perfume to cover up the alcohol scent, the task of working the bottle becoming more impossible and even funnier the more we drank, until the final time I did I left with both Mony and I in tears from laughing so hard.

My memory becomes hazier and hazier the further into the night I go, but the most I can recall is Mony's firm warnings not to socialize with my Grandpa and Aunt for more than three minutes or they'd know I was drunk, her insisting that I have the last spiked sip of orange juice, the gleaming look in her eye and a plan she told me that some small sober part of me knew was wrong, and being surrounded by the Wet Side Story gang on the beach. 

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	14. Carry Me Home

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Chapter Fourteen

Brady's P.O.V

I was out of breath by the time I'd finally ran all the way to the beach.

I'd spent the ten minutes waiting for Giggles to arrive picturing every awful scenario that I could find when I got there, pacing up and down in my kitchen. I'd hardly even said hello to the poor girl, just dumped her on the couch and told her to tell the kids she was the babysitter if they woke up. Jasmine often left random friends of hers in charge of the kids when she was supposed to watch them, so they were used to randomly walking out to find their older sibling gone and a strange teenager in their place.

Then I'd sprinted down to the beach faster than I'd ever run before.

"Brady!" Chee Chee cried out when she saw me, jumping up and waving her hands.

I waved back and proceeded to run down the beach and to where I could see Mack lying in the sand, surrounded by Butchy, Lela, Tanner and Giggles. I couldn't tell if she was unconscious or not, only that she seriously looked like she could be dead.

I dropped to me knees in front of her to find her barely awake and absolutely reeking of vodka.

Her face was tear streaked and her body was physically trembling, clearly unsure of how to react in this new experience.

"Mack?" I whispered, knowing that people who had had way too much to drink can be totally out of it even if they're awake. "Can you hear me?"

Mack blinked a few times.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. "For breaking up with you. I miss you. Can we make up?"

Clearly, Mack had absolutely no idea what she was saying, and that alone made me want to cry. Obviously she did miss me but was blocking out the love she felt towards me with the hurt I'd caused her, but the alcohol had torn down those walls and left her in a raw state of emotion, where all she knew was that she loved and missed me and at that moment that was all that mattered.

Everything would change tomorrow when she sobered up.

"Come on." I urged, nudging her.

She shook her head.

"No." She argued. "I want to stay here. I like the beach. Mony likes the beach too."

"Who the hell is Mony?"

Mack shrugged.

"Dunno. Just know she likes the beach."

"Okay you need to go to bed. Come on." I tried again.

She looked up and smiled at me.

"Let's go swimming. Together. Come on. Come swim with me."

She made and incredibly rocky attempt to stand then fell straight back over again, and thank god I caught her.

"God Mack why did you do this?" I muttered, already knowing the answer. I hated myself more than ever for pushing Mack into a place where she felt like she had to be stupid and get drunk, like that was the only way to forget about me.

I scooped her up bridal style and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I don't think my legs are cooperating right now." She giggled. "Carry me to the water. You're so strong."

I ignored her and turned to the others.

"Thankyou so much for bringing her home and looking out for her. I'll take it from here."

Lela sharply turned away when our eyes met, and I assumed word had gotten around and she'd either only heard that Mack and I had broken up and guessed she was the reason or Chee Chee had told her she was the reason.

"If you're sure." Tanner said, reaching for Lela's hand. She took his stiffly, like a mannequin.

"Positive. Goodnight guys."

The Wet Side Story gang waved goodbye and I turned and headed back up the beach with Mack, who had now fallen asleep in my arms.

We'd almost gotten to my house and my arms were so saw from carrying her limp body they felt as though they would snap off at any moment.

Just as we approached porch, Mack unconsciously dry reached loudly and straight away I put her down on her side so when she was sick she wouldn't choke.

She threw up all over the porch and my feet but I didn't mind, and patted her on the back until she was finished. Once she was, I scooped her back up, kicked off the soiled shoes, tossed them into the outside garbage bin and knocked on the door with my foot, not being able to open it with Mack in my arms.

Slowly, the door creaked open and Giggles cautiously peaked her head out then, seeing it was only me, breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door all the way.

"Is she alright?" She whispered, motioning to my unconscious ex-girlfriend.

"Nope." I said bluntly. "This is so out of character for Mack. I don't know why she would do it."

Except I did know, perfectly well, I just didn't want to admit I was the cause.

"I'm going to let her sleep here tonight." I continued. "On the couch. If I send her home the poor girl will get hammered by her Aunt. You can go home now. Thanks so much."

Giggles gave a small smile.

"The kids didn't wake up so it was no trouble really. I just hope Mack's ok."

"Yeah. Me too."

Giggles gave a tiny wave and jogged off the porch, carefully stepping over the puddle of puke.

I carried Mack to the living room and set her down on the lounge, then went to the cupboard to get a bundle of blankets and a pillow for her.

I slipped the pillow under her head and arranged the blankets around her, and as I lifted her right arm to tuck her in, I noticed the huge, red cut running the length of her forearm, painted with dried blood.

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	15. One Last Request

**Sorry for the late update! School's back in full swing right now so updates will be slightly less frequent now, but certainly no less than once a week. Also, I think originally this story had 15 or 16 chapters up, but I only have up to chapter 14 saved on my computer so let's just call every chapter from this one onwards a new chapter.**

Chapter Fifteen

Mack's P.O.V

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that my head felt like someone had repeatedly bashed it with a brick.

The second was that I was not in my house.

I took a moment to adjust to my surroundings, before I realised I was in Brady's living room.

I stumbled shakily to feet, the shame and guilt over last night's events hitting me harder than the physical hangover.

"Brady?" I called out, finding great difficulty in walking straight on account of my blurry vision and dizziness. "Brady!"

Footsteps started up in the hall. I leant up against the wall to support myself and waited for Brady, taking deep breathes and trying to resist the urge to puke all over the carpet.

When the owner of the footsteps emerged, I realised it wasn't Brady, but his older sister, Jasmine.

Jasmine rolled her eyes and popped a hip out.

"Brady!" She screeched, about twice as loudly as I had. "Brady! Your girlfriend's awake! Or ex-girlfriend! Or whatever."

"I'm coming!" Was the response, as more hurried footsteps sounded throughout the house.

Jasmine looked me up and down, and scowled. I could imagine why. I probably smelt like a pub and looked like no one owned me.

"Brady!" She cried again a few seconds later.

"I said I was coming!" He responded with an annoyed tone.

He arrived in the living room and shot his sister a dirty look before giving me an unreadable one. His face had a mix of sympathy, guilt, and awkwardness written on it.

"How do you feel?" He asked softly.

"Like death." I responded as lightly as I could.

"You look like it too." Jasmine snorted.

"Goodbye Jasmine." Brady hissed. Jasmine rolled her eyes again and left the room, and we were alone.

I felt it straight away. That shift in the atmosphere, the heavy feeling in my stomach. The weight of all the unsaid things on our shoulders.

Brady opened his mouth to speak twice, but then closed it again. Seconds turned into minutes, and time seemed to drag. It felt like an eternity before Brady finally got his words out, and when he did, they were "do you want to have a shower?"

"That seems like a good suggestion." I half-laughed.

A dreading thought hit me.

"Shit!" I cursed aloud. "I didn't go home last night. Grandpa must be worried sick."

"I called your grandfather." Brady said. "I told him I was going to get you and he shouldn't be worried. I called him again after I bought you here. I didn't give him the details, I just said you were upset but safe, and I was letting you crash here. He wasn't sure and he wanted to speak to you, but I weaned you out of it. I think you should give him a call."

"Later." I murmured. My stomach gargled and I pressed my fist into my mouth. "I think I'm going to throw up."

The urge passed after a few moments and I took my hand away.

"I'm going to go have a shower." I reinforced, pushing past him and directing myself through the house I could navigate in my sleep.

I threw up twice in the shower, in between washing my hair and attempting to scrub the scent of stale alcohol off my skin. When I'd finished, there was a fresh towel neatly folded on the side of the sink basin, which I assumed Brady had put there for me. As I dried myself, I noticed a sharp sting in my arm. I pulled the towel away and gasped at the cut extending from my elbow to my wrist. It was shallow, thankfully. I had no memory of how it got there, but thinking about it gave me another sharp stab of guilt, of regret.

I dressed myself back in the only clothing I had with me – that awful posh blue dress from the party last night – and went off to find Brady. He was in the lounge room, captivated by the TV, even though it was switched off.

"Brady…" I began, but that was as far as I got. There was so much I needed to say, and yet I was at a total loss for words.

"Did you call your Grandpa?" He asked without looking at me.

"No." I answered softly. "I will in a minute."

Brady nodded and looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn't continue, so I did instead.

"Brady I don't remember much of last night." I began.

"I don't doubt that."

I bit my lip, and felt an anger burning inside of me again.

"I do remember that you're the reason I did it, though." I snapped.

"Yeah, I don't doubt that either." He said solemnly.

I stewed over my next words before I said them. I knew what I was about to propose was wrong, that it wasn't the right way of handling the situation at all, but I went ahead anyway. I had an idea, an idea that if I just had one last taste of him, I could let him go.

"Brady, I hate you so much." I hissed, then paused. "But I still love you. And I can't explain that, but that's how I feel. I need to start moving on, so I need you to stop whatever it is you're doing. You've hardly even started this, this ploy to win me back and I already need you to stop it. I need to move on from you, and you need to let me. You owe me that much at least. I only want one more thing from you, and then that's it."

Brady looked up at me, an ocean of unshed tears in his eyes.

"Anything." He whispered.

I swallowed hard and crossed the room towards him. I sat myself down on the couch beside him and took his hand in my own. He watched my every move, in anticipation of what was to come.

I leant over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. I was sure my breath reeked of vodka, but he didn't pull away. He held my face in his hand and looked at me.

"What, Mack? What do you want?"

I took a deep breathe.

"I want you to make love to me."

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	16. Desire VS Common Sense

**Okay people quick question. How many followers and favourites does it say this story has on your devices? Because I keep getting emails saying new people have followed/favorited this story and yet the numbers never changed. So what just wondering if it's a glitch on my computer or a glitch with the website. Thanks beautiful people! Xx**

Chapter Sixteen

Brady's P.O.V

My body went rigid with shock.

"Mack, no." I uttered out. "Why would you….I don't understand…?"

"Because, Brady…" Mack's tone had lost the bite to it, and she was now sitting very close to me on the couch. Her fingers were playing with my hair, her nose was almost touching mine. "I want you to make me feel something one last time."

"That's a horrible idea." It took all the willpower and strength I possessed to force out the words. "We can't."

Mack hardly even seemed to register that I'd turned her down. She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck, leaving soft kisses there.

"Mack stop." This time, I physically pushed her away. "You're not thinking rationally. You'll regret this."

"I'm regretting a lot of things right now, Brady." She replied evenly. "I don't see how this is going to top my list."

"McKenzie-"

"Look at me, Brady." Mack cut me off. I did as she asked and stared deep into her hazel flecked eyes. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want me like that, just one more time."

I avoided her question and looked away again.

"Mack, I don't know how you think this is going to help either of us, but if you truly believe that this is the end for us, then I need to start moving on too. And sleeping with you is not going to help that cause by any means."

"I don't care." The venom returned to her voice. "It's not about you. This is about me, and what you owe me. After what you've put me through, I deserve this at least."

"This is such a terrible idea." I said again. "Mack, you really haven't though this-"

"Do you want to?" Mack cut me off again.

"Well, I-"

"Yes or no, Brady." She raised her voice.

I sighed, knowing I couldn't get around it any longer.

"Of course I do." I answered honestly. "But more than that, I don't want you to have any more bad memories."

This only seemed to urge Mack on, as a playful smirk crossed her lips.

"Then give me one last good one." She whispered seductively, and closed the gap between us, pressing her lips into mine.

I couldn't hold back and longer. I kissed Mack back, letting my conscious drift away. For a few minutes, all we did was kiss. I lost myself in what I had been craving since she'd dumped me at the hospital. But when she began to toy with the hem of my shirt and made a move to pull it over my head, I remembered where we were and broke the kiss to stop her.

"Mack, not here." I said quickly. "Jasmine and the kids are home."

Mack peered over her shoulder, towards the living room door.

"What about your mum?" She asked.

"Mum left for work this morning. The kids won't be up for at least another hour and when Jasmine's not out she lives in her room with her music blaring, so as long as we're reasonably quiet she won't hear us. But we can't do it in the living room."

I stood up and helped her up after me. With her fingers entwined with mine, I lead her through the kitchen, down the hall and into my bedroom. I shut the door behind us and popped the lock.

As soon as I turned around Mack's lips were on mine again, this time with much more force. We wasted no time in ridding each other of our shirts, and the rest of our clothes soon followed suit. A voice was nagging in the back of my mind the entire time, desperately trying to tell me how bad of an idea this was. I guessed that voice was probably known to most as common sense, but my desire and impulse always seemed to quiet it down.

Half an hour later, I felt absolutely no better about what we'd done than I thought I was going to, but Mack seemed perfectly content.

She laid with me in my bed for about ten minutes after we'd finished, not saying anything, not even looking at me, just starring at the celling. She wasn't smiling, and she wasn't frowning. She didn't seem upset or annoyed with what had happened, nor did she seem thrilled and satisfied with it. She simply seemed content.

I left her like that for a while, before I spoke.

"How do you feel? I asked, because it seemed like the most appropriate thing to say.

"Fine." Mack said, in the same even, emotionless tone.

"Brady!" Jasmine screamed out, making me jump. "Someone's at the door for you!"

"Shit!" I cried, rebounding off the bed and scampering around the room for my clothes. As I struggled to dress quickly, Mack seemed to find a fair bit of humour in the situation, and was couldn't stop giggling, which I didn't mind at all.

Gosh, her laugh was so cute it could bring puppies back to life.

"Stay here." I told Mack, who was still lying naked under the covers of my bed.

I stepped out of my bedroom to find Jasmine waiting for me expectantly. She took one look at my messy hair and roughly pulled on clothes, and couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter.

"You and your girlfriend need to learn what "breaking up" means." She snickered. "Cause, casual hook-ups aren't really most people's definition."

Crap. We were busted.

"Who's at the door?" I changed the subject.

"Dunno." Jasmine shrugged. "Some blonde chick. Fix your hair for Christ sakes."

I scowled at her and finger-combed my hair as I walked to the front door.

I pulled it open to find Giggles on the front porch steps. She was dressed in board shots and an old singlet Mack had given her. Her blond hair was in two plaits, and she was sporting a very concerned look.

"I came to check on Mack." She said in a motherly tone. "I hope you don't mind me dropping in."

"Of course not… but Mack, she's uh… she's not feeling too well right now." I stuttered. "Maybe come back later?"

"Could I just say hello to her?" Giggles made a move to enter the house, but I blocked her path.

"She's really not up to it right now." I insisted. "She's actually not even here. She went home."

"Oh." Giggles said suspiciously. "I guess I'll just go to her place then."

Good job Brady. Cover up of the year.

"No! I mean, she is here, but she just…"

"Brady, what's going on?"

I sighed.

"Look Giggles, it's really sweet that you came to see her, but I really just need some alone time with Mack right now." Which was pretty much the truth, just omitting the details that we'd just had sex and she was naked.

"Are you working things out?" Giggles said, with that naive, innocent look of a girl from a world where everyone got a happy ending.

"I really don't know anymore." I uttered.

And that was the truth.

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	17. Confessions

**Hey lovelies! Don't know if it was an issue with Fanfiction or my crappy internet but Fanfiction has been down for me since last Friday, hence why the update is late.**

 **Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Seventeen:

Mack's P.O.V

It was almost midday when I dragged myself back through my front door, and faced the storm I had known was awaiting me.

"Where in God's name have you been, young lady?!" Aunt Antoinette screeched after I'd barley gotten a toe inside.

"I thought you were supposed to be leaving this morning." I mumbled in response.

"Your aunt stayed because she was concerned about you." Grandpa stated, for once, not coming to by defence. "And rightly so. Where did you go last night? Where have you been since then?"

Their voices bounced around inside my pounding head. I was having difficulty seeing straight, or focusing on what they were saying, courtesy of my excruciating headache.

"I need to lie down." I moaned, although I didn't intend to say it out loud.

"You need to answer our questions!" Aunt Antoinette's voice got higher.

At this point, I was at a level of about zero when it came to caring, or what I had left to lose, so I decided to just go with the truth. Screw it.

"I got drunk last night." I confessed, using my finger tips to massage my temples. "With that Harmony girl. The one who showed up in bikinis. Then I think she convinced me to cut my wrist." I held up my wounded arm for them to see. "Or smash a window, or something. I don't know, I don't really remember what happened there. Then I must have drunk called Brady or something. I don't know what happened there either. The last thing I remember is being in the basement with Harmony and then I was on Brady's couch."

Grandpa and Aunt Antoinette stood with their mouth's agape. I was at least expecting my aunt to launch in to another squeaky high pitched rant, but even she seemed at a loss for words. The silence got increasingly uncomfortable, so I continued.

"I don't even know where to start to tell you how sorry I am." I exhaled heavily. "I just….the whole break-up with Brady, I'm not really handling it well. At all." I could feel the unwanted tears already filling my eyes. "And last night was a great example of that. It was such a huge mistake. All of it. Everything that happened was a mistake. Including what happened this morning."

"What happened this morning?" Grandpa found his voice again.

My cheeks reddened instantly. I definitely hadn't meant to say that.

"Nothing." I dismissed it, and brushed a single tear off my cheek. "I can't do this right now, I'm sorry."

I moved past them, down the hall and into my bedroom, then shut the door behind me. I'd only just dropped my heavy body down onto my bed when the a firm knock echoed around my room.

"Go away Aunt Antoinette." I called.

"It's me." My grandpa replied.

I didn't grant him permission to come in, but also didn't tell him to go away again, which he must have figured was close enough because he entered anyway.

He sat down beside me on my bed, and at that point, I completely broke down. For a while, all he did was hold me while I cried into his shoulder, letting my tears soak his shirt. After about five minutes, he gently edged me up. He did his best to wipe the tears from my face, and gave me a few moments to compose myself before he spoke.

"I didn't come in here to interrogate you." He began. "I came to listen. I think there's a lot going on in your life that you're not telling me right now."

I looked down at my hands.

"I told you what happened last night." I murmured.

"What about what happened this morning?"

I felt that same heat returning to my face. At this point, there really was no point in lying or keeping the truth from Grandpa any longer, but that didn't mean I wanted to tell him any more than I did before. Not only was it awkward, but I still felt that same shame about giving my virginity to a boy who'd been cheating on me, and my poor, impulse decision this morning.

"Grandpa, I do have something to tell you." I started. "But you can't tell Aunt Antoinette."

"Of course not." Grandpa eyed me with suspicion, but his tone was reassuring. "I would never say anything to anyone that you didn't want me too."

I took a deep breathe.

"Brady and I slept together this morning." I spat out, then immediately looked down to avoid seeing Grandpa's reaction. A few seconds later I brought my head back up, to see Grandpa's mouth slightly agape, looking as though he was trying to process what I'd just said.

"And it wasn't the first time, either." I continued, before I lost my nerve. "Last weekend was."

Suddenly, I was unable to stop words falling off my tongue.

"I mean, I know this morning was a bad decision. I'm just not thinking clearly lately and, I don't know, I think I'm more upset with myself that I don't regret what happened as much as I think I should." I blabbered on. "I just, I don't know. I thought… I well, I don't really know what I thought. I wasn't thinking. Not this morning, not last night. And it was my decision for us to do it again this morning, not Brady's, just so you know."

I managed to shut my mouth and stop the words spewing from them before Grandpa found out way more than he needed to know.

Grandpa took a long time to register everything I'd just tossed at him, but when he eventually reacted, all he did was sigh and say "why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to." I insisted. "I'm sorry I just… after I found out what Brady had done… it was just… too hard to talk about anything to do with him without falling apart." I bit my lip. "You're not mad, are you?"

Grandpa sighed again.

"Of course I'm not." He stroked my hair. "I'm just feeling for you, Mack. But I know you'll get through this. Whatever the right decision in the end is, I'm confident you'll find it. You're a great kid, don't ever forget that. You don't deserve to be hurt, but I know you'll come out the other side."

And with that, he kissed my forehead and left me alone in the room, where I completely fell apart.


	18. At Least One Relationship Hasn't Crashed

**So….. I always have an intro author's note and I actually don't today. Other than I am finally sixteen! Yeah, that's about it.**

Chapter Eighteen

Brady's P.O.V

Each and every time I called Mack over the next two days, she sent me straight to voicemail within two rings.

I got the point. She was trying to move on, and I probably wasn't helping. However, no matter how many times that thought went through my head, I still picked up the phone and tried again and again.

It was about four 'o' clock in the afternoon when I was lying on my bed, starring helplessly at my bed, when a new thought nuzzled it's way into my mind.

Were Tanner and Lela splitting up?

Tanner had to know, right? Surely Chee Chee wouldn't have told Mack and not Tanner.

A whole new wave of guilt started in the pit of my stomach. Since our break-up, the feelings of self-disgust had mostly revolved around what I'd done too Mack, but I hadn't even thought about Tanner and Lela until now. How was Tanner going to take it? He wasn't used to heartache and not getting the happy ending , none of the Wet Side Story gang are. Did he have enough strength to tell Lela they were through, like Mack had with me? Would he be coping any better than Mack was? What about the twins?

For the next hour I debated whether or not it would be a good idea to go out to Wet Side Story. Presumably, I was the last person Tanner would want to see. But I needed him to know how sorry I was as well. Even if he didn't want to hear it, I needed to say it.

Before I was even convinced it was a good idea, I was in the ocean, allowing myself to be pulled by the waves, then spluttering out sea water in a body of water facing the scenery of the 1962 beach movie.

I began kicking towards the surface. The beach itself was deserted, but then was plenty of activity coming from inside Big Mama's.

I made my way up the beach and onto the porch of the sought-after hangout spot. Peering through the window, it seemed to be a biker party. My eyes immediately found Lela, sitting alone by the jukebox, sipping a colourful drink from a plastic bottle through a straw. She certainly had the appearance of someone whose husband had just left her. Her eyes had a strung out, exhausted look to them. Her shoulders were hunched over, and her ever bubbly, sociable personality was absent as she sat alone.

And Tanner was nowhere in sight.

At first I assured myself it was because he was a surfer. Even though the gangs were on friendly terms with each other, they still had their individual events. Bu then I saw Butchy excitedly entertaining an enthusiastic Lugnut, an absent-minded Chee Chee and a bored looking Struts. Beside him, a sweetly smiling Giggles was tucked underneath his arm.

So if Giggles was allowed to be there, Tanner would be as well. Yet he wasn't.

Another sense of dread hit me, and I was already racing down the beach towards Lela and Tanner's house before my brain could catch up with what I was doing.

My mind was going faster than my legs. Would Tanner even be living there anymore? Where would he have to go? Maybe Lela had moved back into her parents house, and Tanner was living there on his own.

As I rung the doorbell, I was completely out of breathe. I was trembling inside, imagining how Tanner was going to respond when he opened the door.

The response I didn't consider was him opening the door, beaming from ear to ear, and enclosing my in a tight hug.

But that's exactly what happened.

"Brady!" He grinned, flashing his ever-flawless white teeth. "What are you doing here?"

My tongue tied itself it knots.

"Um… I just, I came to see how… how you were… if everything was alright." I stammered.

Tanner looked confused.

"Well sure everything's groovy." He said brightly. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"So, you and Lela, you guys are okay?" I blinked in surprise.

"Sure we are…" Tanner agreed, eyeing me oddly. "Brady, is this about you and Mack breaking up?"

Again, words failed to find me. If he knew Mack and I weren't together anymore, he must have known the reason.

"Lela mentioned it too me." He said, as if he was reading my mind. "Don't be mad at her. She just told me because she was upset you guys split up. I am, too. You and Mack seemed so perfect. What happened?"

What happened?

Tanner really didn't know. Chee Chee, for whatever reason, had speared him the truth about what his wife had been up too.

"Why aren't you at the party?" I blurted. "The biker party and Big Mama's. With Lela."

"I'm looking after the girls." He said easily, opening the door wider so I could see Rose and Alice, the five month old babies sitting side by side on the living room floor and happily throwing around and chewing on building blocks.

"Come in, please." Tanner gestured behind him.

"No, I can't." I shook my head, making a move to head down the beach.

"Just for a few minutes." Tanner insisted. "I mean you came here-"

"I came here just to make sure you and Lela were okay." I cut him off. "But there was clearly no need. I have to go. Goodbye."

And I turned and jogged back down towards the water's edge, leaving behind a very confused Tanner.


	19. Homewrecker

**Sorry about the late update my lovelies, I've been really sick** **L**

Chapter Nineteen:

Mack's P.O.V

"Gosh, it has just been way to long since we've done this." Struts drawled, popping open a can of soft drink, then passing one to Chee Chee.

"Totes too long." Giggles agreed, helping herself to a can of soft drink. I couldn't help but crack a smile at Giggles use of the word "totes". The 1960's teens use of our slang in their everyday conversation what just utterly adorable.

I ran my finger around the rim of my own drink can, slouched down in Chee Chee's couch.

When Chee Chee had texted me earlier that day, using one of the old mobile phones Brady and I had given the Wet Side Story gang a while back, and invited me around to her place for a girl's night, I'd declined. Although not too long ago I would have jumped at the idea. A night with a Wet Side Story girls used to make everything seem a little better. But today, I hadn't been able to think of anything worse than gossiping on about nonsense with a group of girls that would certainly include Lela, my new least favourite person. So, without really giving any reason, I'd simply written back _"No thanks"_ and left Chee Chee to use her common sense and figure out why I didn't want t come.

Which is probably why she looked so surprised when I'd arrived on her doorstep about twenty minutes ago. I'd announced I'd had a change of heart with my best fake smile, and tried to look enthusiastic when Giggles had run over to hug me.

I really wasn't even sure what I was doing here. At the moment, I seemed to be making impulse decision, and changing my mind as fast as I made it up. At the last minute, I'd decided I was going, and I'd headed down to the beach when Grandpa had left to take Aunt Antoinette to the airport. At the time I'd had some thought about trying to prove to my new least favourite person that I was totally fine, even though I was absolutely not.

Though I'd been here twenty minutes and I was already greatly regretting that decision.

Lela hadn't made eye contact with me once since I'd walked in, but I could feel her gaze burning into me when I wasn't looking. It was like we worked on a switch – she starred at me when I wasn't looking, and as soon as I looked up she looked away, which would lead to me starring at her until she looked up, and repeat.

I cocked my head to the side and studied her as she suddenly appeared to become flustered. Her naturally rosy cheeks deepened in colour, and her head bowed down not only looking away from me but from everyone in the room.

"Earth to Mack!" Struts teased, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I blinked and sat up, realizing I'd totally tuned out.

"I said, how are you and Brady going? Have you sorted things out?" Giggles repeated.

"Yeah, a little birdy told me you's aren't together no more." Struts chimed in. "How'd that happen?"

"Brady cheated." I said bluntly, opening the can of soft drink I'd left untouched. I didn't look at Lela as I said it, but out of my peripheral vision, I saw her visibly flinch.

Giggles and Struts gasped sharply, at Chee Chee coughed awkwardly.

"Oh my! He didn't!" Giggles exclaimed.

"With who?" Struts added.

"Excuse me." Lela stood suddenly. "I need to use the bathroom."

I couldn't help but smirk a little as I watched her hurriedly leave the room.

"No one you know." I lied, smiling a fake, sweet smile and taking a long sip of my drink.

"My gosh, I never would have thought Brady would do such a thing." Giggles looked genuinely saddened.

Chee Chee stayed quiet.

"Anyway, what's been going on around here?" I changed the subject.

"Well, nothing that compares to that." Giggles cleared her throat, then grinned. "But Butchy took me on an adorable date yesterday!"

"Oh my gosh! Chika, do tell!" Chee Chee came back to life.

I resisted the urge to groan and tuned out again. The sappy and practically perfect love lives of the people here was the last thing I wanted to be hearing about.

A few minutes passed and Lela still hadn't returned from the bathroom. The girls were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't notice as I set my drink down and subtly stood up, then made a hasty exit from the room.

The bathroom door was shut and locked, but as I pressed my ear against it, I couldn't hear any movement. I debated with myself mentally before I knocked.

A tiny gasp came from the other side of the door, followed by a timid "come in".

I turned the knob and stepped into the cramped bathroom. Lela was hovering over the sink basin. Her eyes widened in panic at the sight of me.

"Mack-"

"Does he know?" I cut her off. "Tanner? Does he know?"

Lela swallowed audibly and looked down. She gave an almost non-existent shake of her head, but I caught it.

I took several steps closer to her, closing the gap between us.

"Well that doesn't seem fair." I taunted, sounding one hundred times stronger than I felt. "On Brady. I mean, how come he's paying for what he did and you're not?"

There was a long silence.

"Mack…" Lela's voice cracked. "Please don't-"

"Tell Tanner?" I finished for her. "No, I don't plan on it. I'm not a homewrecker, Lela. Unlike some other people I know."

When Lela looked up at me, her eyes were specked with tears, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Not even a little.

"Mack, I'm so-"

"Don't, Lela." I shook my head, and headed back towards the door. "Just don't."


	20. The Case Of The Mising Waterbottle

**I am so so so so so so sorry about the late update! My schedule is INSANE at the moment. As many of you know, I'm an actress and a dancer. I'm acting in an upcoming production, which I've been flat out with, I am also approaching the end of year 11 at school meaning exams, assignments due, choosing subjects for year 12, then between that and my work which also has weekly staff meetings and dance and acting classes I've barley had time to catch my breathe. And as much as I LOVE writing this story and reading your reviews, school has to come first unfortunately.**

Chapter Twenty:

Mack's P.O.V

I promise I fully intended to go home when I walked out of the girl's night, faking a migraine.

Really, I did. After my encounter with Lela in the bathroom, sticking around with the girls was the last thing I wanted to do. The night had barley been bearable from the word 'go', but as soon as Lela had finally re-joined the group, the room felt far too hard to breathe in.

However, I may have ended up taking a slight detour.

I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to go and see Tanner. It certainly wasn't driven by a motivation to expose Lela. Lela might have deserved to be suffering through the pain I currently was, but Tanner didn't. And, as much as I hated admitting it, there was more at stake with those two. If Tanner knew what Lela had done, it wouldn't just be their relationship that would fall apart. Their family would as well. They had children in the picture, which made everything so much more complicated.

So what exactly was my motivation for going to visit Tanner?

Passing his and Lela's home on the way back to the beach and another one of those damn impulse decisions.

Tanner initially greeted my surprise arrival with an excited grin and enthusiastic hug, then a puzzled expression.

"I though you were hanging out at Chee Chee's." He said, tilting his head to the side. "With the other chicks."

I grimaced as his use of the word "chicks".

I tried to contort my face into an expression of pain, and dramatically massaged my temples.

"I was, and I was having so much fun." I lied through my teeth. "But then I got this killer headache. I was just on my way home, but I thought I'd drop in and see how you and the twins are."

"Aw, you sweetie." Tanner chuckled. "Well, the girls are asleep at the moment. But since you're here, could I ask you a favour? Could you just sit in the lounge room while I take a shower? It'll be quick, I promise, and you can lie down on the couch if your head's hurting too much. I just don't like showering when it's just me, in case the girls cry and I can't hear them."

My heart fluttered. Tanner, the careless surfer who never put too much thought into anything and could often be perceived as vain and self-centred, was such a thoughtful, caring father.

"Of course." I agreed immediately, willing stepping into the home.

Tanner breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Thankyou so much."

He made a move to go upstairs, and then appeared to remember something suddenly and turn back around.

"Oh, Mack!" He exclaimed, hurrying into the cramped kitchen. "Lela and I have been meaning to give this to you for ages, but it keeps slipping our minds."

He fumbled through a drawer, before finding what he was looking for and holding it up for me to see.

My stomach plummeted.

Tanner was holding up a water bottle. But not just any water bottle. This one was cylinder shape and crafted from clear plastic, with a purple cap. From the angle Tanner was holding the bottle, I had a clear view of the bottle cap's surface, which contained the letters M, A, C and K, scratched in to it.

The pure horror overcoming me must have been visible on my face, because Tanner suddenly looked very concerned.

"What, what's wrong?"

"Where did you get that?" I demanded.

"Lela accidentally picked it up." He said slowly, understandably confused with my reaction. "She has a really similar one, remember, she bought it from a store once when we came to California? Actually, hers is identical, all it's missing is your name on top. Which she didn't notice until after you left."

My heart was in my throat and beating furiously, though I tried to compose myself.

"Sorry, I've just been looking for it for ages, that's all." I tried to look grateful as a now relieved Tanner handed me the bottle. "I think I'm going to lie down. You go have your shower."

Tanner helped to settle me on the couch, then double checked I was okay before heading upstairs.

I laid starring at the celling, trying not to stop the flow of awful thoughts to my mind.

Lela couldn't have done it on purpose. She couldn't have.

Rattling coming from the front door made me jump what felt like a full meter of the couch.

The door flung open, and Lela and I mimicked each other's wide eyed expression.

"What are you doing here?" I cried, before I realised how dumb that sounded.

"What am I doing here?" Lela repeated. "This is my house! What are you doing here?"

"What's this?!" I answered her question with another question and held up the water bottle.

"It's a water bottle." Lela put her hands on her hips. The apologetic, sobbing Lela from the bathroom was miles away. This Lela just wanted to challenge me. And if she thought Brady was going to be the prize, I couldn't let her win. I might be mad as hell at him, and we might not currently be together, but he was still mine.

"It's my water bottle!" I snapped.

"Congratulations, did the name on the top help you to figure that out?" She snickered.

I moved closer to her, partially to avoid yelling as that would alert Tanner and possibly wake the twins, and partially to intimidate her.

"If you think this is a game, Lela, I'm not playing it." I hissed. "I was hospitalized very recently after I was drugged. Large amounts of pain killers were found in my water bottle. Except it wasn't mine. It was your bottle, and this one is mine. Now you're going to look me in the eyes, and for the love of God, you're going to tell me you didn't switch them on purpose. Then, once I have that assurance, you're going to tell me how the heck the pain killers got in your bottle in the first place."

The smug look on Lela's face melted away and her breathing hitched.

"I didn't switch them on purpose!" Her voice cracked. "I cannot believe you would accuse me of such a thing!"

"I apologise if I don't hold you to very high standards lately." I shot back sarcastically. "One way or another, the drugs were in your water bottle. And you're going to tell me how they got there. Now!"

I was determined. I was getting an answer.

Though I certainly wasn't prepared for what she said next.


	21. Words To The Wise

**Thankyou beautiful people for sticking with me and my crazy schedule! I am updating as often as I can!**

Chapter Twenty-One

Brady's P.O.V

Sometimes when you've known a person long enough, or when you know a person well enough, you develop something like a sixth sense with them.

You can tell when they're not feeling well, just by looking at their facial expression, or just from the tone in their voice over the phone. You can tell something's bothering them just by the way they phrase their text messages.

And sometimes, you can even feel when something's wrong when they're not with you, when they're not speaking to you. Sometimes, you'll simply be sitting at home alone when thoughts of them will cross your mind, followed by a hunch that something's not right.

That's exactly what happened tonight. By 7pm tonight, when I tried Mack's phone again, I'd tried countless times by now. Sometimes she'd deny my call after the first ring, sometimes she'd let it go to voicemail, but either way she was still ignoring me.

Which is why it shouldn't have meant anything that she didn't pick up this time. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but for some reason, after I put the phone down, I couldn't shake the feeling that she'd gotten herself into some situation she shouldn't be in again.

The possibilities swarmed through my mind, and continued to return no matter how much I tried to push them away. They built up and expanded each time I dialled her number only to listen to her voicemail yet again.

Was she is Wet Side Story, or still in California? What if she was drunk again, or trying to mend her broken heart by hooking up with some random guy who was surely trouble? Was she hurt, or just upset? What if she was somewhere on her own, her beautiful eyes glistening with tears?

It was Mack herself that had taught me to trust my instincts and to go with what my gut was saying, but it wasn't like I could turn up on her doorstep. She'd asked for me to leave her alone, and I couldn't explain why I'd shown up to her grandfather. I wasn't sure if she'd told him about what had gone down between us this morning, but if she had, he'd surely become suspicious of what was going on between us if I claimed I'd come 'just to check up on her'. But how else could I phrase it?

My mother was off work tonight, so I was free to leave when I wanted too, but I still debated what I was going to do while I helped her get the kids to bed.

I tried anything and everything to get my mind off this awful feeling Mack needed my help. An hour ticked by before I decided I couldn't take it anymore.

"Mum!" I cried out, jogging into the garage to collect my surfboard and then heading out into the night air through the open roller door. "I'm going for a night surf! Be back in half an hour!"

I was down the driveway before she could protest and I began the jog to Mack's house. Four times I stopped and reminded myself what an absolutely terrible idea this was, then proceeded to try and convince myself to go back home, but each time I continued on.

When I arrived on Mack's doorstep, I hovered in front of the door for a long time, trying to work up the courage to knock.

As it turns out, that wasn't necessary, because I ended up hovering for so long Mack's Grandpa noticed me and came to the front door anyway.

His facial expression represented a mixture of confusion and disapproval as he coldly asked "Brady, what are you doing here?"

I swallowed hard and tried not to show how nervous I was, even though I was sure it clearly readable all over my face.

"I… uh…I was just….Is Mack home?" I finally managed to spit out.

Her Grandpa narrowed his eyes at me.

"Why do you ask?"

I racked my brain for a decent excuse, but when nothing came up, I found the truth falling off my tongue.

"She's not answering her phone." I relayed honestly. In a pretty pathetic attempt to lighten the mood, I half-laughed as I added "it's probably just because I'm her least favourite person right now, but I just had a hunch something was wrong. I just wanted to make sure she's okay."

Mack's grandfather stewed over my words for what felt like hours, but it reality was probably just a few minutes. My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for his response.

And I couldn't help but feel just a little taken back when he looked at me and said sharply "do you still love my granddaughter?"

My mouth went dry. Of course I still loved Mack, but could I admit that to her stern-faced grandfather who more than likely hated my guts? Was that what he wanted to hear?

He gave something that could be described as a small smile, and continued.

"You see, I don't know anyone else who would come over here just to make sure she's okay, on nothing but a hunch something's wrong. Brady, you know Mack still cares about you. A lot. She wouldn't be this torn apart if she didn't. Now frankly, I don't think you deserve a second chance. What you did was wrong, and you should be well aware of that. But you used to make Mack really happy. And if I know anything about you at all Brady, it's that you don't give up easily."

I stared blankly back at him, trying to comprehend what exactly his point was.

"I do love Mack, sir." I admitted. "I really do. And you don't know how much I regret hurting her the way I do. But I'm sorry… I'm not sure I know exactly what it is you're saying…"

"I'm saying, that if you really want her back, go fight for her, Brady. I'm not saying it'll be easy – she's a stubborn one. But regardless of how much you hurt her, she loves you. She just needs you to prove that you still love her, and that you're willing to do what it takes."

"I am." I said without hesitation.

Mack's grandpa took on a stern look again.

"But, you ever hurt her like that again, I will make you very, very sorry." He warned.

I nodded.

"I believe you, sir. Trust me, I do."

He bought back that half-smile.

"Then what are you still standing on my porch for? Go get her! She's not here, she went out with some friends. I don't know exactly who but-"

"I know where she'd be." I assured him, already turning away. I began to dash back towards the beach, before stopping and turning back around.

"Thankyou." I called to Mack's grandpa, who nodded, then disappeared back inside.

I hurried down to the beach and dived into the waves, letting the salty ocean water sweep me into Wet Side Story.


	22. Sob Stories

**Hey lovely people, sorry for the super super super overdue update! I have been having so much bad luck with computers it's almost comedic. My computer broke down, so it was sent away to be fixed, then my dad's broke down, so it went into repairs, then came back to us, the something else went wrong and I just - UGH! Anyway, I just bought a whole new computer.**

 **But anyway, I doubt you guys care about me and my unfortunate computer troubles, so I'm just gonna shut up and write the chapter.**

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mack's P.O.V

Lela was hysterical.

I stood by the door, clutching on to the handle for support as she wept on the couch, numb with the shock of what I'd just been told.

Upstairs, the sound of gushing water suddenly sieged and the rickety pipes in the walls that shook when the shower was in use fell still.

Lela's head snapped up from where it was buried in her hands, and a look of panic struck her face.

"Outside!" She hissed in a whisper. Her voice was low, but she still spoke with such an intensity I was scared to say no. She leaped off the couch and made a dash for the door. "Tanner can't see me like this, he'll ask questions and I won't have answers."

"Wait." I stopped her by grabbing her elbow. "You never told Tanner about this?"

"Of course not!" Lela seemed shocked by the suggestion that should would ever breathe a word of what she'd just told me to her husband. "Now come on!"

She wriggled free of my grasp and attempted to pull me out the door, but I ducked away from her.

"I can't leave, I promised Tanner I'd wait in here and listen out for the girls until he came downstairs!"

"Fine, just don't tell him I'm home yet." Lela wiped the black smudges created by her running eyeliner and mascara off her cheeks, then disappeared out the door.

No sooner had the door closed behind her did she let out an ear-piercing squeal.

"Lela!" I cried, yanking the door open again to see what had caused the reaction.

A startled Lela stood with her hand clasped firmly over her mouth and her shoulder's in Brady's grasp.

"Brady? What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Mack?" Tanner called from upstairs as footsteps began on the stairwell. "Is everything okay down there? Was that Lela?"

Thinking on my toes, I shoved Lela and Tanner away from the door and pulled it shut again.

"No Tanner, that was me." I lied, as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Sorry, the lights flickered, they just gave me a fright."

I wanted to kick myself. The lights flickered? We were in Wet Side Story – they're entire world was a perfectly constructed set, the lights flickering was probably unheard of.

Luckily, I'd chosen the not-so-bright male lead to deliver that excuse to.

"Huh?" Tanner furrowed his brow and stared up at the celling. His confused expression, however, was gone as fast as it had come, and he shrugged it off and said "They've never done that before. I'll ask Butchy if he knows how to fix them."

I nodded and gave a fake, tight smile.

"Tanner I really have to go." I said, trying my hardest not to act suspiciously.

"Okay." Tanner grinned and flashed his white teeth at me, again oblivious to any problem. "Thanks for watching the girls."

He frowned in the direction of the clock.

"Hopefully Lela's home soon. It's getting late." He murmured absent-mindedly.

I had no idea how to respond to this, so I barked out an awkward laugh, and bolted for the door before saying so much as a goodbye to Tanner.

Out in the night air, I immediately caught sight of two figures darting into the shadows behind the bright, illuminating lights radiating off of Big Mama's.

I dashed across the beach, kicking up sand as I went. As I sprinted, I frequently turned my head from side to side to make sure no one had seen me.

I did not need more questions at this point.

As I approached Big Mama's, I was carefully to stay out of sight of the bikers on the porch and do my best to avoid the lights, which was proving difficult, since most of the beach was lit up.

I kept sight of the two silhouettes, who were now sweeping behind Big Mama's. As I followed them, I tried my hardest to push the thought out of my mind that they had probably done this many, many times. Snuck away somewhere secluded together, narrowly avoiding the gaze of others, staying the shadows.

But they hadn't been careful enough. Chee Chee had caught them.

I finally managed to catch up to them, where they were waiting patiently behind the sought over hang-out spot, presumably waiting for me since they must have figured I would go after them.

"Right." Brady exasperated once I had caught my breath. "Would someone please tell me what's going on here?'"

"What are you doing here?" I looked him up and down.

Brady bit his lip sheepishly.

"I had a bad feeling." He mumbled. "I thought something might have been wrong."

"Okay, Raven the Psychic." I mocked.

"Well apparently I was worried for a valid reason." He defended, eyeing the state Lela was in.

"Thanks for your concern, but I can take care of myself just fine." I hissed back. "And I can take care of this. You're assistance isn't needed."

Brady folded his arms across his chest.

"You weren't answering your phone."

"No shit, I don't know if you remember but we kind of broke up."

Brady raised his eyebrows at me.

"Really?" His voice took on that I'm-in-the-mood-to-argue tone. "Cause yesterday morning didn't feel like breaking up to me."

Lela's head popped up at this line. She looked suspiciously between Brady and I, but kept her mouth closed.

"You really want to go there?" I challenged.

Brady sighed.

"No Mack." He sighed, and just like that the tone was gone. "I don't. I just want to know what the hell's going on."

I was about to snap at him to stay out of it and go back home, but Lela piped up before I could.

"The water-bottle Brady." She said in a soft, timid voice. "The one Mack drunk from on the beach. The one that poisoned her. It was mine."

Brady's eyes widened, and I could see the same conclusion I had jumped to racing through his mind.

"You switched the bottles?" He exclaimed.

Lela's bottom lip wobbled, and I could see the tears threatening to start up again.

"Not on purpose!" She shook her head. "After you… you broke up with me that night on the beach Brady… I, I felt so awful. That I hadn't been the one to break it off. That it had gotten that far. That it had begun in the first place. I remember going home, and I thinking I didn't deserve the girls, or Tanner, and they deserved so much better than me. I found all the left over pain killers from that time I came to California and I got that killer headache. I waited till Tanner and the girls went to bed, and I kissed them goodnight and…."

The tears were once again falling freely down Lela's face, and she was working herself up passed the point of being able to produce words.

Brady was now beginning to understand where she was going with this, and I could see that reflect in his eyes.

"Lela…" He whispered, horrified. "Did you try to-"

"I didn't go through with it.'' Lela cut Brady off before he could say the words. "I put the pain killers in the water-bottle in the afternoon and intended to skull the whole thing that evening once everyone else was in bed, but I thought better of it once night actually came. Instead, I threw the bottle out the front door and on to the beach. I'd assumed the tide would come in and take it away, but I guess it was still there the next day when Mack came to visit. That's how she picked it up by accident."

Brady looked between Lela and I, and I saw my own trouble to process what I had been told on his face.

"I have to go." Lela said suddenly, pushing passed me. "Tanner will be wondering where I am."

And with that she left us, hiding in the shadows behind Big Mama's, completely dumbstruck.


	23. Prom

**Okay so I know I start all my authors notes off like this at the moment but sorry for the super super late update. I've had so much on with final exams and performances and work and rehearsals that most days I have literally been leaving in the morning for school and not getting home till really late evening. Also, I kept deleting and rewriting this chapter because it wasn't turning out the way I wanted. I think I've finally got it right haha but I'll let you guys be the judge of that.**

Chapter Twenty-Three

Brady's P.O.V

''Doesn't your fan go any faster?'' I complained, slumping down further into Mack's couch.

''Trust me, if it went any higher, it would be on that setting.'' Mack replied evenly, draping herself over the adjacent recliner. ''We seriously need to invest in an air conditioner. It's way too hot.''

To illustrate her point, she began dramatically fanning herself with her hand.

''Maybe you should check on the pizza, make sure it's not burning.'' I suggested, somewhat wearily, earning what could be described as an unimpressed look from Mack.

''Your faith in me is overwhelming.'' She mumbled sarcastically, but took the advice and got up to check on her homemade pizza anyway.

''I still don't know why we didn't just order pizza.'' I groaned. ''Someone does the work for us and we don't risk burning your house down.''

''First of all.'' Mack took on that matter of fact tone from the kitchen and she pulled the oven door down and peered inside. ''I don't know where all these ''we's'' and ''us's'' are coming from. I'm making the pizza, not you. Second of all, I told you, learning to cook was on my summer bucket list.''

''Okay, but I also told you that if burning your house down is not on your summer bucket list we should have ordered pizza.''

''Just be quiet. The pizza is fine and so is the house.'' Mack returned to the living room and reclaimed her spot of the recliner.

It had been a few days since the Wet Side Story incident, and neither one of us had been back since, or really even discussed it. After all, the fact that guilt over infidelity almost caused Lela too take her life, and then almost killed the girlfriend of her secret lover was definitely not your everyday over-coffee discussion topic, and it certainly wasn't an easy one.

What Mack and I had done, however, was started spending time together again.

When we'd returned to California that night, Mack had still been shaken from the whole experience, and asked me to walk her home before she'd thought better of it. The look that had come over her face following the request had been a mixture of regret and embarrassment, but before she could take it back I was already marching her in the direction of her home.

''Thankyou.'' She'd whispered quietly when we'd arrived.

''No worries. I get why you wouldn't want to be alone at this time of-''

''No Brady.'' She'd interrupted ''I mean thankyou for showing up there tonight. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I don't like admitting that you make situations like that easier, but you do, and I appreciate that you came out there because you were worried about me. And yeah, thanks for walking me home as well, I guess. Uh, goodnight.''

''Goodnight.'' Was all I'd managed to get out in response before she'd shut the front door and left me alone on her doorstep.

I'd considered calling the next morning to see how she was doing, but the more I'd thought about that, the more I'd realized I was making it way to easy for her to shut me out. Calling someone was easy, and it was also very easy for the other person to hang up. And if I was going to take her grandfather's advice and fight for her, I was going to have to make a bigger gesture than calling her.

So I'd walked to her house, fully prepared to be greeted with hostility, sarcasm, rude remarks and a slamming door.

I wasn't prepared to be invited in to watch a movie.

I wasn't sure why Mack was suddenly so willing to tolerate me again, although I suspected it had something to do with the fact that previous nights events had unnerved her, and she wanted the company of someone who understood.

Either way, I certainly wasn't about to question it.

So I'd returned the next day, and the day after that, and this morning, and each day Mack had opened her door just that little more willingly.

Today, however, was a little different. Today I didn't have intentions of coming in a sitting quietly and making small talk with Mack.

Today, I had much bigger intentions.

''What do you want to do until the pizza's ready?" Mack sighed. ''We could watch a movie?''

I raised an eyebrow.

''If we put a movie on, will you remember to get the pizza out?''

''Jesus Brady, yes!'' She cried, though she was smiling.

''Okay, okay.'' I raised my hands defensively.

There was a moments silence as she stared at me, waiting for me to make a decision.

This was it. This was my moment.

No backing out now.

''Actually, Mack, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.''

Mack narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She opened her mouth as if to warn me off saying anything, but then closed it again, and settled for glaring at me expectantly.

''Look.'' I began. ''I get that you still haven't forgiven me, and may not ever really forgive me. And I've accepted that. Sort of… okay not really but that's not the point. The point is, I know we're only friends the moment, and maybe not even that. But at the start of this year, you and I were really excited about prom. It feels like it would be stupid to miss it just because we broke up.''

''Who says I was planning on missing prom?'' Mack barked. ''I don't need a guy on my arm to have fun.''

''I know you don't.'' I said quickly, instantly regretting my word choice. ''But the point is, we were looking forward to going… together. Weren't we?''

''Are you actually asking me to prom?"'

''I guess I am.'' I said.

''No.'' Mack shook her head. ''Absolutely not.''

''Come on, Mack.'' I stood up off the couch and came over to crouch by her recliner. ''I don't mean as a couple. Just come along as my friend. Give me that much. Mack, whether we're a couple or not, this night was supposed to be our night. And I still want that, more than anything. And I think a part of you does too. Besides, isn't your aunt all about being traditional? Can't go solo to the prom on her terms, surely.''

''Pretty sure she'd rather I went solo then with you.'' Mack cracked a smile.

''Well then take it as another chance to piss her off.'' I smirked.

Mack chuckled, then held my gaze for a few seconds.

''You're serious about this?'' She said slowly.

''I've never been more serious in my life.''

A timer sounder from the kitchen just as Mack looked like she was going to respond.

''Excuse me.'' She said with a cheeky but unreadable grin. ''I've got a pizza in the oven.''


End file.
